The Titan Shifters
by Tsunami Arow
Summary: Follow the Recon Corps as they once more set out on an Expedition, but this time it's to find out the source of where Titans with missing limbs that doesn't seem to be regenerating are coming from and what the cause is. This journey will be particularly dangerous since they do not have a clear idea of where they are heading, their best guess is the mountains, what will they find?
1. The Beginning

_(A/N: Forgive me if I may get some facts wrong about this story, my friends requested me to write this and I decided to give it a go, I've only just finished watching the anime and now continuing the manga to get a better grip of the story, but for now, here's what I got. In a way, I am trying to set this story along with how the manga is going on currently (I'm catching up XD), yet I've modified it a bit, like….I mean, I've set this story's setting like just after the capture of Annie…..I guess? And before they suspected Reiner and Bertolt…? XD I don't know, but prepared to be SUPER confused! 8D_

_**Another thing: This will also contain an OC of mine!**__Yes, an OC! BUT! __**It will NOT have the story revolving around them**__, I PROMISE! There will be a few chapters that is set on their P.O.V. but other than that, the story is NOT about them! Ok?_

_Anyways…. so forgive me if some stuff seems off, remember, I'm still new to this AMAZING manga/anime, soooo…... enjoy! :) )_

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"Sir!" A messenger ran into the meeting room of the Survey Corps HQ.

Erwin, Levi, Eren, Mikasa, Armin, Hanji, and several others looked up in surprise, they had been discussing about the group formation for future expeditions.

"What is it?" Erwin asked, standing up.

The messenger looked a bit shaken up, but her voice stayed strong and calm, "There has been recent reports from the Garrisons that there had been many attempted breaches against Wall Rose by more Titans than usual, sir!"

Levi looked bored and soon zoned out from the conversation and back to the map formation.

However, Eren, Mikasa, Armin, and the other present Survey Corps members were intent on listening, "What do you mean? That's usual, isn't it? The amount of Titans varies always…." Erwin said in confusion.

"Yes sir, but Commander Pixis has reported that every single of the Titans that had come seemed severely injured some way! It is unnatural, sir!"

"How so?" Erwin asked, completely interested now, Levi too was slowly coming into interest.

Eren looked at Mikasa and Armin with wide eyes, who looked back at him too with curious looks, "They reported that there were several missing heads, both arms, legs, and one even had the entire left side of its body teared off!"

Levi suddenly asked, "But didn't they regenerate immediately overtime? Or did Pixis just kill them all off immediately, that old fool?"

"Yes, sir! Commander Pixis did first immediately shoot them down with the cannons, sir! But as more and more of them came, he halted the firing and watched, sir! He confirms that none of the Titans regenerated their injured parts, not even after several hours with sunlight shining on them, sir!"

The _sir_ endings were starting to get on Erwin's nerves, but he retained his disciplined look, "Is that so? Well, what do they want us Survey Corps to do about it? Have you relayed this information to the Military Police Brigade, yet?"

She shook her head, "No sir! I was ordered to relay this information after I have told you it, sir! And I am not sure what Commander Pixis wants you to do right now, sir!"

"Well…..you better get going onto Wall Sina now, I am sure something is bound to happen soon, dismissed!" Erwin pronounced.

The messenger bowed and saluted him before racing back out.

"How interesting…." Erwin said as he sat back down, attention going back to the map.

Levi pondered in silence for a moment before going back to the map formation as he noticed that Erwin had made a mistake in the rear right flank.

Armin whispered quietly to Eren and Mikasa, "Well, what do you guys think?"

Mikasa shrugged, her face expressionless, "I don't know, but if it involves us Survey Corps members out once more, I'm pretty sure we're going to need even more recruits."

Eren gazed at Mikasa in shock, "How can you say that, Mikasa? We are the Survey Corps! The bravest and courageous of all the three Brigades! We can make it through anything!"

Hanji was at the side, squealing on how eager she was to capture one of the injured Titans to study them and find out what had caused their injuries.

Suddenly, Levi stood up, everyone turned to him including Erwin, "What is it, Heichou?" Armin asked.

The Corporal looked out the window at the far side of their meeting room, where it showed Wall Rose standing out in the distance, "I think I would like to take a look at this….." he murmured.

Erwin looked at him in shock for a moment before nodding and getting up, "I agree, the formation planning will be put off later, who agrees?"

Everyone besides Levi was surprised at Erwin, he never asked if they agree or not at something he proposed, "Hai, sir! I agree we should go!" Eren suddenly called out.

Mikasa and Armin nodded, supporting him too, Jean scowled but joined in. Connie looked faint after since the expedition when they had fought the Female Titan, Annie Leonhardt.

But the others quickly joined in when the main three teammates agreed to the proposal.

"Then….let's move out!" Erwin said.

"Hai, sir!" They shouted, saluting him before running out the door quickly after Levi and him.

"Sir! Permission to use 3-Dimension Maneuver Gear?" Sasha shouted.

"This time, yes, I will apologize later, but this may be something very important for us to see!" Erwin shouted back.

Levi had already unsheathed his swords and zipped off, the pulling shriek of his 3DMG wires disappearing quickly, indicating he was traveling at an unusually quick, reckless speed.

"Yes, sir!" They all shouted.

Eren was the first to immediately pull out his swords and zip off after Levi, they had all come to the meeting room, uniform, 3DMG, and other equipments prepared.

And in no time at all, the main Survey Corps members were off, jumping and swinging from buildings quickly.

Many citizens looked up at them in confusion as they passed by, "Hey, is there something wrong?" one muttered to another.

"Nah, it's just the Survey Corps doing reckless things as usual…"

"But I did here that more and more Titans have gathered at Wall Rose now, what's the problem?"

"Dunno, just hope them Garrison fellows can take care of it…."

"Maybe that's where the Survey Corps are headed?"

"You don't think the problem is far more severe than it is, do you?"

"Well, the Military Police Brigade would start showing up soon from Wall Sina if it is….."

"Yeah…"

They muttered amongst themselves as the Survey Corps headed nearer and nearer to Wall Rose.

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_(A/N: First chapter, done. Mhmm, yeah! I hope you liked it and also, if some chapters seem short, I will type like, two or three and upload them as one, ok? I will split them off with that diamond thing *w* to indicate it's a new chapter ^w^ I hope you like! Please leave a review, or a follow! It will be much appreciated!)_

_~~~This is Tsunami signing off~~~_


	2. Start of the Trouble

_(A/N: o_o Chapter Two was much more earlier than I expected o.o But it's much expected since Shingeki no Kyojin is like the top anime and I just can't stop rewatching it X'D Anyways...I hope chu enjoy o.o Maybe, just maybe...next update I will put in two chapters at once for a longer read...that is if I feel like typing that much X'D Riiight, ok, that's all for now! ^^)_

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"Status report!" Erwin shouted the moment he touched down on the wall.

A few Garrison members were about, looking down at the other side of the wall.

When Erwin shouted out the command, they immediately whipped around. Although they were startled, they stood to attention immediately and answered, "Sir! More and more wounded Titans have appeared, sir! All are not regenerating, sir!" a young girl shouted.

The Survey Corps members walked over to them and looked down at the wall; they were amazed immediately at the massive amount of Titans there were.

"My God!" Sasha said, her eyes widening.

There were probably about nine titans at where they were, four were six-meters and the other five looked between three to four-meters, even more were scattered about here and there at the wall and out in the open. And the most interesting detail about them all was that they all had vital parts of their body missing, and they weren't smoking from that area either. No unusually high body temperature steam came out from the wounds, which was quite odd.

Mikasa stood next to Eren and Armin, the three looked down at the horde of injured Titans quietly, each calculating their own thoughts and theories.

Levi stood to the side, looking a bit interested in the wounded areas of the Titans, but otherwise paid no other mind to them.

Krista hid behind Ymir, "Why do they look like that?" she squeaked, eyes widened in fascination, fear, and horror.

Ymir sighed, "Tch, I'm no Titan expert, how should I know?"

Reiner just gazed down at them in disgust while Connie and Bertolt stood a bit farther from the edge, not wanting to slip on accident and fall to their sad, immediate demise.

Erwin was walking around, looking for Commander Pixis while Levi was ordered to keep order over the other members for now.

Suddenly, the wall began to shake, everyone turned, wondering what was up now.

They quickly scouted their surroundings but saw nothing. "What is that?" Connie asked, looking around wildly as the shaking grew stronger.

"Hold your ground!" Erwin shouted, running back with Commander Pixis.

Just then, in the far distance from a small clump of trees, a Titan appeared, and it was running super fast towards them.

"An Abnormal!" Armin gasped.

"Looks about… sixteen-meters!" Krista reported in horror.

"Is it planning to ram the wall?!" Jean asked, eyes widening.

"That's absolutely suicidal!" Eren said.

"Fire!" Commander Pixis shouted.

Immediately, the Garrison aimed the cannons quickly and fired even though they had no time to push them into positions.

*BLAM* The cannons blasted out their ammos, and all amazingly struck the Abnormal head-on, literally.

Though as big as it may seem, being peppered by more than a dozen cannon balls was enough to knock its head off, just above the nape, and stop it in its track for a moment.

As it slowed down, it tried to continue walking but had trouble as since it had no head and didn't know where it was trying to run to.

Nearer and nearer it came to the wall, they all aimed at the Titan again as they had quickly finished reloading the cannons.

But Levi stopped them.

He immediately sprung onto the Titan as it came near, ignoring the smaller Titans, and used his 3DMG to swing himself high above its nape before spinning quickly and slicing the nape off.

He leaped back quickly onto the wall with the help of his 3DMG and watched in satisfaction as the Abnormal crashed down, crushing some of the smaller Titans along with it, although they still wiggled and squirmed.

Everyone was still amazed at seeing how fast Levi could move, all except Erwin and Commander Pixis of course. They worked with him many times, especially during annihilating Titans.

"That was a close one!" one of the Garrison said, looking a bit shaken. "It was so fast! And so gigantic!"

"There is still much you need to know about the Titans, Valen," Commander Pixis said to her, who immediately saluted him.

The Garrison took care of the other Titans when Commander Pixis had finally allowed them to.

"Forgive us, for slaughtering that Abnormal without you seeing it first, Pixis," Erwin apologized.

Luckily, Commander Pixis was not one that was easily angered in anything.

Instead, he gave a bright smile and laughed, "It's alright! I've seen enough of those strange Titans to last me several lifetimes! That includes the ones that haven't been regenerating!"

The present members of the Garrison and Survey Corps looked at beyond the wall for a moment, scouting around to see if there were anymore incoming Abnormals.

"I have a feeling that we'll be departing soon on another Expedition, don't you agree, Commander Pixis?" Erwin finally spoke.

"Mm, indeed so, I believe….." Commander Pixis answered back, taking a thoughtful swig from the bottle of wine he held.

The Survey Corps looked at each other, eyes widening, they weren't ready yet for another Expedition, not after the massive trouble that Annie had caused them as the Female Titan.

Nonetheless, they knew they had to go, whether they were ready or not, for that was their job as the Survey Corps!

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_(A/N: Very cheesy ending X'D I'm sorry but that was what I had on my mind e.o ANYWAYS! I hope you leave a review and favorite! Don't forget to follow me for new stories! ^^ SnK Forever!)_

_~~~This is Tsunami signing off~~~_


	3. Time to Get Ready!

_(A/N: All of you...should love me...I did three freakin' chapters and uploaded them at once, just for you! ALL. OF. YOU. LOVE. ME. NOW. o_o Anywho...enjoy? e.o)_

**...**

"Sir!" a messenger burst in on the Survey Corps once more in their HQ. It was a few days after the Survey Corps had gone to visit Wall Rose.

They all looked up, this time they were just lounging around, having nothing to do. Erwin, Levi, and Hanji were somewhere upstairs finishing the formation plans.

"Where is Commander Erwin, or at least Corporal Levi?" she asked wildly.

Eren pointed at the stairs, "Somewhere on the second floor being busy, why?"

She took a deep breath and said, "The Survey Corps members are ordered to set off on an Expedition, by the orders of the King!"

Here, everyone immediately stood up, new recruits were looking at each other, a bit frightened and unprepared, but Eren, Mikasa, Armin, Krista, Ymir, Reiner, Bertolt, Jean, Connie, etc., the older and more experienced members were ready.

They gravely nodded. Mikasa immediately led the messenger to upstairs where their superiors were. Everyone else quickly got ready.

"I'm not ready though!" a new recruit wailed, her eyes filling with tears.

Some of the new male recruits were also looking a bit anxious, but they still tried to look tough, and some of them were older than the original Survey Corps members.

"Be ready!" Mikasa said, her fellow friends saluted, stating that they were ready.

The new recruits gazed at them in awe, knowing all the trouble they had been through on the 57th Expedition that involved Annie.

"Soldiers! Get your stuff and prepare! We're heading out in a few hours!" They all turned to see who had issued that order.

Commander Erwin and Corporal Levi were standing on the top step of the stairs, the messenger was quickly scurrying down them and running off, having done her job.

"Yes sir!" They all saluted him simultaneously and with no flaws. Erwin smiled at that before nodding curtly and disappearing back somewhere on the second floor again.

Levi just stood at the stairs and watched as they scurried around, getting ready quickly. "You're making too big of a racket, keep it down, brat," he said to a new recruit. He looked fearfully up at his Corporal and nodded, quieting down.

They then all rushed upstairs to where their assigned rooms were, they quickly all slipped on their uniforms, strapped on their 3DMGs, supplied fresh blades, and prepared other little things.

Eren gripped the key his father gave him tightly before looping it onto a sturdier piece of thread and slipping it around his neck.

Mikasa was already ready with everything, the only thing she forgot was her scarf, which she quickly grabbed and wrapped around her neck before running down to the first floor.

Armin hugged the book his grandfather gave him that was about the outside world, reading it briefly before snapping it closed and hiding it for safekeeping.

In no time at all, they were all ready, even the new recruits, though some had their equipment messily strapped on and all that. The elder soldiers helped them quickly adjust it before they all quickly stood to attention.

Erwin appeared and walked down the stairs slowly, surveying the group, "You all pack quite fast…." he complimented them.

"Yes, sir!" they said.

Levi walked beside him, the only difference about him was that he had his 3DMG strapped on, his extra blades glinting with perfection.

"Practice in the courtyard, and wait until further orders! Remember to restock on gas and blades just in case you waste some during training. Also saddle and tend to your horses! Now go!"

"Yes, sir!" They saluted him before running out of the building.

"What was the point of this Expedition again?" Levi asked, his voice bored.

"I thought you were listening," Erwin said.

He shook his head, "Only if the conversation is particularly interesting, but all I heard was the messenger blabbing on about nonsense, slipping on her words way too many times, apologizing too frequently, and all that. How do you expect me to keep my attention on such a useless brat?"

Erwin could only sigh in exasperation; that was Levi for everyone.

"The Expedition is to find out where the injured Titans are coming from," he told him.

"But why? It's usual to see them injured isn't it?" Levi asked.

He shook his head, "I don't know, but if the King issued it, we must follow it." He then turned back and walked up the staircase.

Levi looked after him for a moment, he then muttered under his breath, "Mindless, loyal fool." He gazed back at all the soldiers training in the courtyard before shaking his head, "How many more of us do you want to kill, Your Highness?" He put a lot of venom on 'Your Highness' before he sighed and turned away, following after Erwin.

**...**

Outside, the Survey Corps soldiers were training with earnest, they already had massive Titan decoys set up, scattered around the protected forest.

Every now and then, there was a shriek of a zipping 3DMG line here and there, and the occasional shouts of soldiers jumping down and attacking their targets.

Pretty soon, they were all tired, "How much longer until we set out?" Armin asked, wiping his forehead as he came over to where Mikasa and Eren were.

"About an hour more, maybe. Commander Erwin would probably tell us to rest soon and conserve our energy." Mikasa answered.

Eren had a bucket of oats held up to his horse's mouth, who munched away eagerly, Jean, Reiner, and Bertolt were doing the same, chatting easily to each other.

"Armin, can you fill this up with water for me?" Eren asked, holding a fresh bucket towards his friend.

"Oh, sure, Eren!" He took the bucket and ran to the well where new recruits were hanging out at, acting all leisurely.

Mikasa left Eren shortly to discipline them, Eren watched with amusement as the new recruits cowered under her scolding. He then watched as Armin filled the bucket with water quickly before he came back, lugging the bucket of water.

"Thanks, Armin!" Eren said, he took the bucket from him and, with a bit difficulty, held it up to his horse instead of pouring it into the trough, who drank it down gratefully.

After another near hour or so, they all slowly stopped what they were doing and wearily came over to the fountain where they sat down, exhausted.

But they had only a few moments to rest, some had none at all, before Commander Erwin came out, Levi was somewhere else.

"Alright, soldiers! Time to take a break! We'll be leaving just before dusk, so we'll have a few good hours of safety while the Titans are rendered immobile, for we have quite a long journey ahead of us!" They all saluted him and wearily but gratefully entered the building.

Each crawled to his or her room and settled down on their beds with relief, some had gone to take a quick shower before too resting.

The elders however were used to this, and they all settled on the couch while teasing each other on their smell. Even though they have had many recruited soldiers, the numbers of Elders still outmatched them all.

"So, what do ya think we're in for this time?" one asked.

"Better be good, for we nearly _never_ leave at dusk, never!" another one answered.

"Commander Erwin did say our journey is going to be quite long this time…."

"Better be worth it…..some of us aren't going to make it back, I can tell you that!"

"Yeah….a shame really….the new recruits we got this time seemed to enthusiastic to go to the outside…."

"Don't make me feel guilty…."

"How?"

"You make it sound like none of us will be able to save them even though we could…."

"...I don't get you."

"No one does."

"Mm…

Everyone's concentration trailed off before they all eventually went to take a shower, their smell of sweat was too overpowering.

And Levi proved that.

**...**

"Oh my GOD!" All the Elders bolted upright from where they were sleeping on the couch.

They turned to see Levi standing there, surveying the room, "What have you idiots been doing?"

Groggily, they shook their heads before looking around them.

Nothing was wrong, the couches were as they were, nothing dirty was spattered on the ground or the wall, so they were confused.

"This room smells like the inside of a Titan!" he said crossly, his usual frown seemed deeper than usual.

One soldier had the nerve to be smart, "But how do you know how the inside of a Titan smells like if you've never been caught by one to be that near, eh Corporal? Or are you hiding that you have been in a situation like that before but you just don't want to ever share it since it'll soil your title as the best Survey Corps soldier?"

Here, everyone gasped, no one had ever talked like that to Levi, they immediately turned to him, expecting him to beat the soldier up.

But instead, Levi just glared at them all before saying in a deadly, calm voice, "No, I know because I had to save a certain brat from the maw of a Female Titan."

Now everyone quieted, remembering when Levi and Mikasa had told them all about it, how Annie had nearly managed to kidnap Eren, who was their only Titan-shifter ally and how big of a loss it would be for humanity if he was gone.

"I-I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking, Corporal." The soldier bowed his head.

Levi frowned even more deeply, "None of you ever do." He walked over to one of the couches, the soldiers on it quickly got off or scooted aside for him.

Flopping down on the couch, he laid back for a moment, everyone looked at him, wondering what he was down here for.

After a few moments of awkward silence, one soldier finally spoke up, "H-Heichou? Was there something you needed?"

Levi suddenly sat up straight, "Ah, right….." he stood up, everyone jumped to attention.

He faced them all and said, "Prepare your stuff, saddle your horses, stock up, we're heading out!"

"Hai, Heichou!" they all shouted, saluting him.

As they began to scurry around and pack up, he said, "Remember, we are going to the warehouse for gas and other things, do not use the gas we have here, we only use those for training, tell the recruits that as well." They quickly nodded, saluted him once more and ran up the stairs.

While the Elders ran off to get ready, Erwin appeared and walked down the stairs, Levi had settled himself back onto the couch, legs and arms crossed, he looked to be in deep thought.

"You told them to get ready?" Erwin asked, Levi nodded ever so slightly.

Erwin smiled, "Good, we might as well get ready too, don't you agree?" Without waiting for his answer, Erwin walked outside, towards the section of the building that led to the Major's quarters.

Levi quickly followed him, giving a scowl as he sniffed the room once more, "Get some air freshener and spray this room!" he ordered to some new recruits that had just appeared down the stairs.

They squeaked and quickly ran back up the stairs, Levi sighed but quickly went after Erwin.

**...**

_(A/N: LOVE ME NOW! DX I NEED SOMEONE TO LOVE ME FOR MY HARD WORK! DX *pouts* TT^TT Notice me, minna-san-senpai! *rocking on the floor crying and hugging self* My mind has run out of Nyan Cat power TT^TT LOVE ME NOW FOR DOING THIS! D; _

_*calms down and becomes composed* Ahem, I mean...please don't forget to leave a review, and please if you haven't, favorite and follow both this and me! ^^)_

_~~~This is Tsunami signing off~~~_


	4. Away We Go!

_(A/N: *breathes down your neck* o_o *comes close to you and whispers in your ears* Enjoy...)_

**...**

"Mikasa, how far do you think we're going this time?" Armin asked, sitting next to her and Eren as they waited in the courtyard for the others.

"Somewhere far," was all that Mikasa said.

Armin knew when to not push for anymore and so directed his next question to Eren, his best friend, "How many of us are going to come back this time, Eren? And are we going to be successful?"

Eren didn't answer him for a moment, when he did, he simply said, "Depends."

Before Armin can question him further, Erwin and Levi appeared, "Soldiers!"

Everyone quickly got up and lined up in their formations, the dawdlers back in the building quickly ran out, tugging on their equipments.

When all of them had lined up correctly, other officials came out, including Hanji.

The officials looked the soldiers up and down, helping the newcomers with some of their stuff, and shouting at the more experienced soldiers to "spiff up".

When everything was to their satisfaction, they all got into their own positions in front of them, facing them with a serious look, "Right, now listen up! This expedition we are about to head out on is not an ordinary one." Here, some of them already looked surprised and flustered, even some of the Elders.

"We are not only scouting out information about the Titans and possible new places to take, but we are also looking for the source of where all those injured Titans we saw. And we, I mean the more…..mature soldiers that came with us." Erwin looked meaningfully at Eren and the others.

"And don't forget, brats," Levi spoke up, "That no screw-ups or reluctance are tolerated this time in any way, if you are scared, leave now." Erwin looked surprised, this was not the time to intimidate and dismiss the newcomers.

But when he looked back at the soldiers, none of them moved, even though some of the newbies looked terrified and were shuddering with silent fright. Levi nodded curtly before allowing Erwin to go on.

"And so, because of our current goal for this expedition, we, all us officials, have absolutely no idea where we will end up at, we only have a vague idea of where we should head." He paused to let this vital bit of information sink in.

Armin gave a silent gasp, Jean looked mortified, Sasha and Connie had turned pale, Christa clung to Ymir, who barely tried to shake her off as her own eyes widened. Bertolt and Reiner looked as if they had a calm expression, but Eren could see them both shuddering slightly. Mikasa though, was calm and silent, knowing that these reactions were the exact kind of thing that the officials disapproved on for such a vital expedition.

After everyone had calmed down, including the newbies who had suddenly broke down crying, Hanji stepped forward and spoke, "But you don't have to worry! Because us officials are going to be there for you and try our best to protect you!" She smiled so brightly that everyone immediately felt better, until she added, "But oh, remember, some of you won't be returning." Jean facepalmed, Mikasa sighed in exasperation.

Levi gritted his teeth barely noticeably, his hands tightening from behind his back, Erwin shook his head ever so slightly, looking straight on ahead. Levi got the message and relaxed, but still surveyed the reaction.

"Right, now we will tell all of you your places in the formation when we head out, after that, you all must be on high alert, for we can provide no more information than we can now, understood?" They all nodded at him, stiffly. "I said, understood?" he said again, this time a bit forcefully.

Understanding him, they all shouted in unison, "Yes, sir!" while saluting him.

Erwin nodded, pleased to see that these bunch of soldiers were a tad better than the last when they went on the Female Titan expedition.

"Then dismissed!"

**...**

Two hours later, as the sun was setting, the Survey Corps members were once more at the gates of Wall Rose, ready to head out into Wall Maria territory and heading out from that gate then. Citizens were gathered around them once more, but instead of the usual well wishing and frightened but excited chattering, they all looked at the Survey Corps members with doubtful eyes, "Are you sure they're going to even be successful this time?" one person started asking.

"I don't know, but they've been big failures so far…"

"Yeah…...but I suppose we should wish them well a bit…..they are sacrificing their lives for us….like that time when we had to evacuate from Wall Maria to Wall Rose….."

Eren felt his blood boil when he heard these remarks, but Mikasa stopped him, "Eren, ignore them," she said, "Focus on remembering where your position is in the formation." Eren nodded reluctantly.

He was to stay in the center of the formation, again. Mikasa would be on the outer right while Armin will be on the outer left. Jean and Connie, as well as a few other members would be taking the rear right flank while Christa and Ymir will be on the rear left flank with others. Reiner and Bertolt were to be at the head left flank, Sasha would be with a few others in the head right. Erwin would be with Hanji and along with a few elites at the center head, the group that will lead the formation.

The inner right, left, front, and back would be taken over by the newbies and a few other Elders, who each had spare horses with them and were chosen specially to spread news quickly. All officials, except for Erwin and Hanji, were to stay close to Eren in the center and the wagons, they didn't know what would happen this time.

~~~**...~~~**

So all in all, they were using the same new formation that Erwin had created for their last expedition, just a tad modified. It was a good thing that they had a few extra new members this time.

While their horses stamped impatiently, most of the members chatted quietly with their family, trying to reassure them while Erwin, Levi, Hanji, and Mike stood quietly at the front, waiting until the gates would open.

There were the sounds of bombs dropping from the other side of the wall as the Garrisons tried taking out as much Titans as possible to clear the way for them.

"Be warned, the moment we set out into Wall Maria territory, many Titans will be there, wandering, understood?" Erwin had warned them earlier, they had all nervously nodded.

Eren remembered his first time going out on an expedition, the moment they had headed out, Titans had appeared and attempted to swallow some of them, but luckily, some of the backups had disposed of them quickly. This thought made Eren feel just a bit better before he remembered that they had still lost many due to Annie…

He shook his head, although he now knew that Annie was the Female Titan, he still couldn't really accept it, even with the massive amount of casualties and problems she had caused them. But then again, this time there couldn't possibly be more Titan-shifters out to get them, so this expedition must be a bit closer to succession.

While he was deep in his thoughts, he didn't notice the gates starting to rise, or the immediate hush that spread across everyone as they slowly backed up, all expecting a Titan to suddenly appear. But the Garrisons had quickly took care of that.

"Get ready….." Erwin's warning tone rang out, drawing Eren's attention back to reality as he got ready.

Except for the grinding noise of the wall being drawn up and bombs still being dropped by the Garrisons, there was absolute silence, so silent that you could hear everyone's pounding hearts, filled with fear.

At long last, the gates were fully opened, there was a moment of absolute silence, bombs stopped dropping…. then…: "CHARGE! LET THE 58TH EXPEDITION, BEGIN!" Erwin shouted, kicking his horse.

Immediately, they all kicked their horses, they reared up before dashing forward, civilians quickly moved back as the horses thundered by, Eren was a bit slow since he was to stay in the center, Levi and Mike drew up besides him, along with the chosen elites.

When half of the members had cleared out the gate, Eren kicked his horse, hard, and charged forward, getting to his position in the center position. Everyone else around him quickly thundered by, Mikasa and Armin waved to him before veering off to the left and right when they had passed through the gate.

Just as predicted, they had only cleared a few hundred feet from the gates when Titans appeared. The Garrisons had tried their best, but they could no longer help now, in fear that they may risk shooting one of the soldiers instead of a Titan.

Eren gasped as three Titans at the same time lumbered towards them, but they were quickly taken down by the backups, most of them near elites.

"Face forward, you idiot." Levi commanded him, forcefully turning his head back towards the front.

They had exited most of the buildings area and were now entering the farm fields, which as far as they could see until the front of Wall Maria came into view was dotted with Titans here and there. Luckily, they had no trouble, and Erwin's group had already nearly reached the gates of Wall Maria and galloping past through the wall.

The others could see that Erwin and Hanji had no trouble passing the gates, no Titans springing on them, the scouts followed them and running ahead, which was what their job was.

They were followed by the inner front, their extra horses seen clearly galloping behind their own as they passed through, and again for them, no Titan sprung up upon them.

Mikasa's group went first through the gates with the inner right members before Armin and the inner left members passed through. Eren and his group in the center slowed down a bit as they allowed the right and left to pass through before they too passed.

The wagons was allowed through first with its own personal scouts, Eren held his breath as they did, his eyes darting right and left for Titans and Deviants, but strangely, there were none near. In fact, no Titans were sighted at all, which was a bit strange but also normal…...usually they would be able to see a few Titans near the walls since because, well, it's the wall enclosing humanity! Titan's favorite, but unnecessary, prey. But he had to dismiss that thought for now, they were on a very important expedition.

They charged forward with a new burst of speed, the right and left outer members veered off farther away until they were barely able to see, the inner right and left also spread out, their jobs vitally important as well.

Within only a few minutes, the center column was seemingly left alone with the wagons, Eren's heart thumped with anticipation as his eyes darted around. As important as he was, he was unsure if he could change to a Titan at the perfect timing, last time down in the tunnel when he, Mikasa, and Armin needed to escape from Annie in her Titan form, he had failed to transform, now was not the time for that kind of hesitating screw-up.

Eren looked back fleetingly at the wall, just in time to see the rear outer and inner left and right flank pass through the gates, scouts included. He smiled, relieved that they had no trouble passing through Wall Maria territory. There was the faintest sound of bombs being fired from Wall Rose as the Garrisons resumed their jobs of destroying the Titans at the walls.

Now, they were in Titan territory, and they could only depend on heading forward and await further instructions. Their plan for now was to head towards the mountains, which was quite far away, but they had no other choice. Erwin had told them that this expedition may take several days, which was why they brought not only the usual supplies of weapons, food, and others things, but they also brought a few survival equipment, including tents, there were a few others strapped upon the horse's back in each formation position for just in case.

Besides the tents, there were also hunting equipments, two for each group, and even a wagon that held only horse stuff, such as feed and limited water supply for the horses, and more! So it was quite a lot for the six wagons to hold. But the horses that pulled the wagons were specially trained for such tasks, built with both stamina, strength, and speed, a bit more advanced than the horses that carried the soldiers.

For now, Eren tried to calm down as he looked around, there were no flares, no shouts, no Titans, all was calm, but he knew it wouldn't last long.

Some of the elites that surrounded them started chatting a bit leisurely, though they did dart their heads around now and then, as if expecting to see a sudden red flare in the sky, or maybe even a black flare. That would be a bit hard to see as since the sky was nearing complete darkness as night swooped upon them all, but luckily, the flares had a way of lighting up clearly in the dark, and the sound of it as it rose higher into the sky, it would be hard to miss.

They galloped towards the mountains, which they could see far off in the distance, there were a few buildings dotted here and there, but all were abandoned, their occupants either eaten, dead, or now living within Wall Rose.

"Hey, Heichou," Eren suddenly spoke up.

Levi looked at him, "What?" he asked in a bored tone.

"H-how many of us are going to make it back this time?" he asked cautiously, the elites who were near them stopped talking and turned to them, Mike was quiet as well, intent on listening.

Noticing the sudden attention, he sighed and faced Eren, "I said this before, and I'll say it again: It depends on your choice. I do not know the outcome, no one does." Then he faced forward again.

Eren however, didn't like such vague answers, "But, is it only me? Will it only depend on my choice, or will it depend on everyone's?"

Mike answered for Levi, "It will depend on everyone's choice, but when a time comes that all will depend on you, the choice will depend solely on you, so it varies quite a bit, keep that in mind." The elites' attentions wandered off and went back to whatever they were conversing about earlier.

For Eren though, that was quite a lot of 'depends', so it didn't really help his mood, but he at least knew what they were now betting on. He hoped with all his might that there would be no major problems.

**...**

_(A/N: *makes pretend starting gun noises* AAAND THEY'RE OFF ON THEIR EXPEDITION! XD As you may have noticed, I include both Japanese and English term, for instance, "Heichou" or "Corporal" e.o Just depends on my mood and what I feel like typing at the time XD ANYWHO O3O WAIT FOR NEXT UPDATE! XD [Sorry that this update took longer than a week e.o Tsu-nee is ashamed *bows head*_

**_Yes I do take requests, but you must state what kind of story you want and the plot you would like me to develop! [I take anime and manga fanfics only, unless it's something else that I know of...just put that in a review and I'll get you back in PM ^^_**

_ANYWAYS! *ahem* Please remember to leave a review, and if you haven't already please do favorite this story and follow both me and this story! ^^ Plenty more fanfics heading your way! *throws my imagination at you and watches as it explodes in rainbow colors* ...huehuehue)_

_~~~This is Tsunami signing off~~~_


	5. Outside

_(A/N: Good grief! How long has it been?! Sorry! Highschool is a huge pain in the arse...and WHY ARE PEOPLE SO MEAN TO THE FRESHMENS?! TT^TT Welll, enjoy?! o3o)_

**...**

Several hours later, when dawn was just about to rise, a group of scouts trotted back towards Eren's group, from the direction of Erwin's group.

It was still amazing how they had not encountered any problems on their way, they had met several Titans, but all were too drained to keep pace with them and had fallen behind.

Levi rode ahead to meet them, they ran along besides him, talking fast and a bit out of breath, though Eren didn't know why since it was their horse that had been running.

After a while, the scouts splitted off to the right and left, passing on whatever the message was to those scout groups so that they could then pass it on to the rest.

Levi slowed his horse a bit to come back and join Eren and the others.

"What was the message?" Mike asked, curious.

"Captain told us to get ready to settle down and rest our horses for now." Levi answered.

The elites that had slowly listened in was surprised, "What?! B-but, it's about to be daytime! And the Titans will be the most active then! Where do we plan on resting our horses and our equipments safe from them?! We should've left during daytime, it would've been much more convenient!"

*SMACK* Levi had suddenly veered his horses toward them and gave a quick, sharp slap across the talking elite's face.

"Shut up, no matter when we leave, it will never be convenient, and if the Captain says to rest, we rest. Do you understand that, idiot?"

The elite looked as if he wanted to talk back, seeing how Levi was shorter than him, but the cold, menacing look on his face stopped him, "Tch….." he muttered, slowly drawing his horse away from the corporal, his friends following him.

Levi looked after them before returning to his position at Eren's right.

Eren was curious too however, "Heichou, where are we supposed to be resting at? Nowhere out here in the plains are safe…."

The corporal sighed, "Can you not see what is in front of you?"

Eren looked ahead, but saw nothing except shadowy things, "The darkness has blinded you…..look harder, there's something familiar there."

Mike looked too while sniffing, in a moment he gasped silently, "No….." he whispered.

Hearing the way how Mike gasped, Eren tried looking harder, the elites too, whatever could faze an official like Mike, it was something they should know about.

Finally, Eren saw it as dawn lit up the world more clearly for him to see, "The Forest of Giant Trees…" Mike murmured for him.

~~~**...~~~**

"Alright, quickly, lead the horses into the center of the forest, everyone else, spread out the perimeter of the forest and stay on guard, remember to watch out for Titans. Us more experienced soldiers had already rid the forest of lingering Titans, so be grateful!" Erwin ordered, everyone was tired but quickly obeyed.

Mikasa and Armin's group was to take everyone's horses and the wagons into the center of the forest, then only Mikasa and Armin will stay behind while the others go back out to join Reiner's, Bertolt's and Sasha's group.

Reiner's, Bertolt's, and Sasha's groups were to split up and create the inner circle around the forest to protect the horses and supplies, but again, Reiner, Bertolt, and Sasha would join Mikasa and Armin in the center.

Everyone else, except for Jean, Connie, Christa, and Ymir, was to stay outside of the forest at the perimeter, creating the outer circle, to watch out for Titans and annihilate them while they rest as well.

But, Eren and his group were to go with the wagons in the center of the forest, "safety measures" was what Erwin had called it to excuse Eren from the others. Other officials would be with him in the center, as well as some very trusted comrades, and in this case, Mikasa, Armin, Jean, Connie, and the others who had been in the 104 Trainees Squad and had lived to now, which was why they stayed behind while their group members went off.

"Yeesh, you get all the special treatment and protection…." Jean muttered under his breath, crossing his arms and leaning against a tree.

Reiner frowned at him, "We shouldn't become cold to him just because he's different, Jean."

"I agree, we shouldn't corner others out, especially during a time like this!" Connie agreed.

Bertolt stayed quiet as he stood next to Reiner, eyes darting around as if he thought a Titan would suddenly appear, not that he had to worry of course since the Captain and Corporal was here.

Sasha was by herself next to the supplies, inching closer and closer to the potatoes especially, Ymir and Christa noticed and made their way over to her.

Eren, Mikasa, and Armin were off to the side with the officials, discussing something quietly without the others.

"Hey," Eren later called out to the others. They all turned to him, "Let's go feed the horses, they're quite a lot to hand out!" He waved his hand across the massive herd of horses, which estimated to be around 300.

They all groaned, but they didn't argue. The officials watched with amusement as they all reluctantly went over to the wagon that held the horse stuff and started taking out feed and water, distributing it among the horse carefully and equally.

In half an hour, all the horses had been fed and watered, some had even started dozing off as they kneeled down and leaned against each other, saddle and bridles still on. "We've really tired them all out." Hanji inspected, noting how some of the horse's legs were looking scuffed up.

"We have no choice." Erwin answered simply.

Christa however loved animals a lot, so she went around through the dozing horses, rubbing their legs and trying her best to clean them up. Ymir sighed in exasperation before going over to help, Connie, Sasha, Reiner, and Bertolt also joined in.

Mikasa, Armin, Jean, and Eren stood back and watched them a little before going over to their own horses and reassuring them.

Besides the saddle and bridle were some of the horses, there were also the packs on it that their owner had forgotten to take with them before they took their position in the trees on watch, Eren volunteered to go give them out, but Erwin denied his offer and instead, sent Jean and Armin out. It was still important to return the packs, for there were the provisions to feed the soldiers.

"Be careful with their stuff, and make sure not to get it mixed up, alright? You remember where each of these owners are positioned, do you?" Jean and Armin nodded quickly.

Erwin told them anyways just to make sure, everyone could see that he obviously did care for his comrades, even if he didn't show it when they had to retreat and leave the bodies behind during their last expedition.

After the explanation, the two quickly shouldered all the packs on themselves with difficulty before giving up and decided to take a few at a time. "Careful not to take any detours or anything, got that you brats? We don't want you wasting gas on mindless idiots." Levi ordered, they quickly nodded again and set off. In only a few moments, the zipping shrieks of their 3DMGs faded away.

"Mindless idiots….." Levi sighed, shaking his head disapprovingly as he turned to see how much more rounds that Armin and Jean would have to make.

"There's no need to call them names, we'll simply remind them next time!" Hanji said.

Mike and Erwin were quietly discussing about where they should go next while Levi and Hanji argued about the packs.

Eren sidled over to where Mikasa was tending to her own horse, she was softly patting its head and murmuring to it, "Good girl, sleep well….." Everyone thought that, since she was the best of them all that came out of training, she wouldn't have much feelings for anything or anyone except for Eren. But that was not true, Eren knew she can be a huge animal lover when it came to it.

As he sidled over, Mikasa looked up at him, "Did you get your pack?" she asked sharply.

He flinched and smiled meekly before crawling back to his horse and getting it, patting the animal fondly before going back.

Mikasa sighed, "Eren, you need to remember to take care of yourself, ok?"

"I know, I know! You should stop treating me like a child then!" Eren said back.

She merely sighed and shook her head, "Drink some water and eat a little, get your strength back, we need you in the best shape when the time comes for you to act, understand?" He nodded quickly, wanting her to stop chiding at him and quickly did as he was told.

A few feet away, Christa, Ymir, Connie, Sasha, Reiner, and Bertolt laughed silently as they watched the two siblings arguing to each other before going back to tending their own horses.

Jean and Armin suddenly appeared, gasping, "I didn't know that they would think of us as enemies that easily!" Armin complained.

"I know, what's their problem?" Jean agreed.

Everyone crowded over to them, "What happened?" Erwin asked.

The two looked at each other before it was Jean that said, "It's them newbies!"

"Don't call them that." Erwin cut in sharply.

"I mean, it's the new soldiers! They immediately attacked us when we went to hand them their packs! Like we were nearing them from behind when they suddenly turned and leaped at us!"

Levi rolled his eyes, Hanji said, "Well….I suppose we did get a raw bunch this time, they seem very jumpy these days."

"You can't blame them, not after what they heard about our last expedition and how they've still risked the chance and joined us, and now they're on an expedition." Mike said.

Seeing how hard a time Jean and Armin may have, Erwin finally relented and turned towards Eren, "Alright, you can go help them, but make sure that someone comes along."

"Sir, Jean and Armin are already coming." He looked confused.

However, Erwin slowly turned his gaze to Mikasa, looking at her expectantly.

She understood what he wanted and nodded, "I'll come too then."

Connie and Sasha laughed, Reiner and Bertolt pitied Eren a bit. Christa sighed while Ymir _tsk_ed at them.

"Mikasa….." Eren feebly complained, but he had no choice if the Captain ordered her to come along.

"It'll be fine, if there's four of us working, then it'll take us only six rounds each." Armin said, having already estimated the number of bags that each of them could hold and how much were left.

Eren's eyes widened, "Excuse me? _Six_ rounds? How much gas do you think that'll waste?"

Armin sighed and whispered to him, "I estimated if it was anyone else, it would take more than even _twelve_ rounds, so be grateful." Eren sighed again, knowing that he really had no way out.

"Then come on!" Armin said, he and Jean already going over to the remaining packs and shouldering them.

Eren and Mikasa hurried after them, each taking their own possible amount of packs and shouldering them, "Let's go!" They all fired their 3DMG hooks and pretty soon they were gone.

"Can we help?" Christa suddenly asked before Ymir could stop her.

Erwin looked over when she asked him, looking her up and down. Though she seemed to have a small build, he could see the enthusiastic glint in her eyes, so he relented, "Alright, anyone else want to help?" He turned to the rest.

Sasha looked at the others before walking over to the packs, obviously showing that she was one that wanted to help. Ymir sighed, if Sasha was going, she'd go to. No way was she letting Potato Girl be seemingly better than her.

After the girls had participated, the remaining three guys quickly also volunteered and helped them.

Erwin smiled ever so slightly, seeing how this particular group of comrades work together, he knew that they wouldn't be running into trouble anytime soon.

**...**

In only a few hours, everyone in the center of the forest fell asleep, except for the Captain and Corporal.

"You should really get some sleep, you know." Erwin said to Levi as they both looked in the directions of where Mike had earlier told them where Titans had appeared.

"I don't need to, you need it more." He answered back stiffly, still looking out.

Christa was snuggled up next to Ymir, who had her right arm wrapped around her, Sasha had fallen asleep next to the supplies truck, a single loaf of uneaten bread in her hand.

Connie and Jean laid against their horses, arms crossed and their breathing even. Reiner and Bertolt were leaning against each other, backs against the other's as they slumbered.

Mikasa and Eren had fallen asleep together next to Mikasa's horse, they looked like two young siblings together sleeping.

Mike was standing, backs to the other officials, arms crossed, seemingly awake, but he had just fallen asleep standing. Hanji on the other hand, she was curled up against the base of a tree, cloak wrapped around herself and sleeping like a cat.

"You're right there, but you too need it." Erwin persisted. Levi shook his head.

"I said I don't need it. I'm keeping guard, you can go to sleep." The short soldier said, getting tired of Erwin's insisting.

They stood quietly together, looking out in peace, neither wanting to annoy the other more.

An hour or so passed by, Erwin finally turned to Levi, who was leaning against a tree, his body a bit sore from standing upright too long, "It's time to sleep, go Levi." He expected him to simply answer back with a snappy remark.

To his surprise, Levi neither turned to look at him or stirred in the slightest, "Levi?" Erwin went over to check on him.

He was asleep, breathing in and out softly, eyes closed, expression calm. Erwin looked at him for a moment in disbelief before sighing and leaving him be. He knew from experience what would happen if anyone woke the Corporal up from a sleep.

"Tch, so he's not as stony as I thought he was." He said to himself softly with a smile.

~~~**...~~~**

"Alright, quickly, quickly! Saddle up your horses, come on! You! Take lead these horses out to their riders in the outer rank! Come on! We have no time to lose!" Hanji ordered loudly.

Erwin woke with a start, he looked around groggily before straightening up quickly, trying to look dignified. A blanket had been thrown over him when he had fallen asleep.

Levi was with Mike and Hanji, discussing something important, Erwin came over to them, "What are you doing?"

They turned towards him immediately, Hanji smirked, "So, he finally woke up!"

"Lay off of him, he was tired after all, right Levi?" Mike said.

The Corporal nodded slightly, "He was the one who stayed up for watch, and no Titans got to us, maybe." He looked out towards where the inner and outer ranks were guarding.

It was a tad hard to see out since it was night once more, another good time to set out. "Scouts should be coming in soon to deliver the messages." Hanji said, tapping her foot.

As if on cue, several soldiers swooped in looking disheveled, "No Titans and no casualties, sir!" One of them said, stumbling across his comrades, dark circles under his eyes.

"Didn't you go to sleep at all?" Hanji asked, surprised.

The scout yawned, his comrades as well, "Well, we tried, but we were too paranoid." His answer came with a wide yawn.

This was a problem, with their scouts tired, they probably wouldn't be able to deliver any message quickly enough, and that would really lead to huge amounts of casualties.

The other officials didn't know what to do, but Levi did.

He walked up the scouts, grabbed one, and twisted his arm the wrong way a bit before jabbing at him in various places with a lot of force, mainly on the pressure points. "Oww!" the scout cried, falling to the ground as Levi let go of him.

Erwin and the other two were shocked, what was Levi thinking?

But to their amazement, the scout suddenly stood up, feeling around his muscles, then he stood up and stretched. "I feel…..wide awake….." he said with amazement. "Like, like I've had a good night's rest!"

Levi then proceeded to do the same with the other scouts, all of them fell, looking paralyzed before they too slowly got up, marveling at how fresh they felt.

"What was that?" Hanji asked Levi as he came back over, dusting his hands lightly.

He looked at her before saying, "Just something I learned." As usual, his answers were short and simple.

They didn't push him, knowing that he would never answer them straight-forwardly no matter how much they pester him to.

Instead, they just went back to the map they had been planning on earlier, Erwin was deciding where they should stop next when daytime rose again.

"So far, I don't think we've been anywhere farther than this forest, and the people who lived past here are all probably dead or just so few living in the walls that it would be very difficult to track them down, much less convincing them to answer us." Hanji said, tracing her fingers across the map.

Levi didn't look one bit interested, instead he looked at Eren, Mikasa, Armin, and the others, who were all tending to the horses, awaiting for their riders to come retrieve them.

"Mikasa, where do you think we're headed next?" Armin asked as he came over with an armful of hay.

She didn't answer him for a moment, when she did, Eren butted in, "The Commander said we were heading towards the mountains, don't you remember, Armin?" Mikasa looked a bit miffed but shrugged it off.

"Mm, right. Sorry Eren…" Armin shook his head as if trying to clear it.

~~~**...~~~**

In a few hours, they were all ready, Sasha had eaten as much as four-grown men can eat altogether, Christa and Ymir had tried to stop her, but their efforts were futile.

Reiner and Bertolt were off to the side, discussing something quietly and looking worried, everyone left them alone, especially Eren and Armin. They assumed that the two were looking worried because of Titans, knowing what had happened to a friend of theirs a few years ago.

Jean was talking to Mikasa, who seemed to be ignoring every single of word. Flirting, was what Eren assumed that Jean was doing to Mikasa.

He and Armin stood off to the side, awaiting further orders, the higher-ups were in a group, still discussing about the map.

Suddenly, a few scouts came in, joining the ones that were already present, "All Titans nearby have been reported to be immobile, sir!" One of them said, saluting.

The higher-ups nodded, stopping their discussion on the map, agreeing to discuss more on it later. "Alright, everyone, quickly lead the horses that belongs to your group positions members to their positions." Erwin ordered. Reiner, Bertholdt, and the others quickly saluted him and set off quickly.

"Scouts," he ordered next, "Go and tell the others to all group up to their own positions, and also help lead the ones who are taking the horses." He nodded at Reiner and them.

The scouts quickly nodded and immediately lifted up into the trees, one stopped however, "Sir, how about resupplying on gas and all?" he asked out of concern.

Erwin stood for a moment, then answered, "We'll travel a few more miles towards the mountains, then we'll stop at a safe spot that we've marked down, then we will resupply then."

Levi suddenly added, "There shouldn't be much concern then, unless some of you brats had been foolishly playing around with it and wasting the supply."

"N-No, Heichou….." the scout stuttered.

"Then off with you." After that, the scouts were gone, as well as was Mikasa, Armin, and the others, leaving Eren once more alone with the higher-ups.

"Jaeger!" Levi called out.

"H-Hai!" He quickly walked over and saluted. "Is there something you need me for, Heichou?"

Levi looked him up and down for a moment before saying, "When we come across a Titan, don't do anything foolish or stupid, remember: They're immobile, they won't do any harm, got it?" Eren nodded quickly.

"I swear, Jaeger, if you do anything that is completely unnecessary that will surely result in meaningless deaths….." He left the threat hanging there, making Eren shiver.

Nodding, he slowly said, "I-I understand." He saluted and was then dismissed, ordered to go and get his own horse and pack ready.

Before he got far though, someone grabbed him from behind, panicking slightly, he quickly blurted, "I really swear, Heichou! I won't do anything foolish! I haven't done any of the sort while we got here, and I surely won't do it now when it's night! Please don't beat me up!" He couldn't help it, Levi was terrifying.

Instead, he heard a chuckle, turning around quickly, he saw Commander Erwin standing there, one hand grabbing his shirt, "I didn't come here to beat you up, Jaeger. I came here to warn you: If you do anything foolish, I won't punish you, but I also won't stop Levi from doing anything to you in his own ways of punishments, keep that in mind." Then he left.

Being threatened several times wasn't good for him right now, by the time he had reached his horse in slow, dragging footsteps, a dreading feeling had settled in the pit of his stomach, promising to not go away anytime soon.

This, he decided, was not going to end well for him.

~~~**...~~~**

In ten minutes, they were finally all ready, all horses had been correctly led to their riders, small amounts of food and water was also handed out to last them all until they reached the safe spot, they were all saddled up and gathered.

"Alright, Outer Front Head troops, follow me!" Erwin commanded once all instructions and plans had been announced.

Immediately, he and Hanji rode away, their group following them. They spread out into perfect group formation and soon disappeared from their sight.

Mike then shouted, "Inner front scouts, you're off!" The group immediately left, following after Erwin and his group.

Next, "Outer Front Right and Left, you're off! Follow in the direction where you were directed to! Go!" Reiner, Bertolt, Sasha, and their groups kicked their horses and rode away.

Next, Levi ordered the outer left and right groups, as well as the inner right and left scouts to go, they immediately rode away, spreading out into their positions.

"Now, center group, follow me!" he ordered, kicking his own horse and riding off, leaving the few elites behind to lead their own groups out.

Eren spurred his horse after Levi, the few Elites that were with them whooped a bit as they rode ahead of him, closer to Levi. Mike however stayed besides him, as well as ordering some elites to stay surrounding them. "Come on, we have to catch up to the Corporal." He snapped his reins, causing his horse to run faster, Eren followed his example.

Finally, the Survey Corps troops was up and ready.

**...**

_(A/N: *listening to the Narwhals song while typing this* NARWHALS NARWHALS SWIMMING IN THE OCEAN, CAUSING A COMMOTION, COZ THEY ARE SO AWESOME! NARWHALS NARWHALS SWIMMING IN THE OCEAN, PRETTY BIG AND PRETTY WHITE-! *gets punched by cousins* TT^TT How dare you..._

_AAAANNNYYYYWAAAAYYYYY! Please do review, and if you haven't already, favorite this story and follow both me and this storyyyy! MORE COMIN' YER WAYYYYY!)_

_~~~This is Tsunami signing off~~~_


	6. Travelin' On the Road

_(A/N: *types this at midnight because I wanted to* My eyes...they hurt...TT^TT Sorry for not updating! Like, like, highschool is new to me and-and-and stuff, I don't like it :| I am making lost time by uploading this rather LOOOOOOOOONG chapter e.o Pweez do enjoy? XD)_

**...**

Eren watched as they passed several immobile Titans of all sizes, fear and vengeance seizing his heart as he passed each one.

Despite being immobile, the Titans' eyes followed them, wide open and always following, causing most to hush up until they were out of range.

The only thing that kept everyone's mind off the Titans were that they were riding closer and closer to the mountain, their destination finally nearer. Also, no one had died yet, so that was another thing to be grateful for.

Suddenly, a group of scouts came riding towards Levi and them, one broke away from the group and came riding next to Levi, "Corporal, the Commander has issued all to meet at a small grove of trees, about only two more miles from here and just a few hundred feet off to the east." Levi acknowledged him and then dismissed him.

The scout saluted and rode back over to his group before they separated and veered off to the left and right, passing on the messages to those scouts.

Eren wondered why they were going to settle at a grove of trees instead of just stopping out in the open, all the Titans were immobile, so what was the point of stopping there? But, he couldn't question his superiors' orders, so he continued to ride quietly, Mike and Levi now leading the group.

He turned around as he noticed that for some reason, all the wagons had suddenly spread out and created a ring around the group, "Hmm?" he questioned quietly. He also noticed how the other Elites around him also had noticed and were giving each other questioning looks.

For a moment, he watched the drivers, seeing if they knew what they were doing, all of their faces' expressions were calm, not determined or in thought at all, but he brushed it aside.

He never really understood what the higher-ups planned, including the time when they planned to capture the Female Titan…

Shaking his head, he cleared his mind, this wasn't the time to think about such things right now. Although it was night, they still needed to keep on guard, there was just no telling what can happen.

~**~~...~~~**

Meanwhile, Mikasa and her group had just received the message from Commander Erwin and immediately started switching positions.

She glared at every Titan they passed by, their own lifeless eyes following her's.

"Hey, Ackerman!" Hearing her name, she quickly snapped her head back.

"Hai!" She answered, looking at the Elite that had called out to her. He was also the leader of their group.

"Pay attention! You're dragging behind! The commander has ordered us to meet up soon! So hurry up!" He was right, she realized that she had dropped a few feet away from the rest of the group.

"Sorry…" she apologized and spurred her horse forward.

A few more minutes passed by, some of the new trainees muttering amongst themselves nervously while the few Elites kept calm.

Just as she was beginning to wonder whether they had accidentally passed by the checkpoint, the leader of the group suddenly gave a shout and veered sharply to the right, the entire group was startled and so had trouble following. Their horses were surprised by the sudden tug from their riders that they made a wide arc before fully turning to the right and catching up with the leader again.

Mikasa however had no trouble, she easily guided her horse right and was the first to catch up to him. "It should be somewhere around here…" she heard him mutter to himself, his eyes darting everywhere.

Looking too, she saw far off in the distance the gathering crowd of the Survey Corps members, Armin's group had just also arrived, meaning that Eren and the rest shouldn't be too far behind either.

They all spurred their horse forward towards the destination and immediately dismounted. Most of the soldiers that had already gathered, including the scouts, all gathered around the wagons that contained food and water, they were all famished. Strangely, some really tired-looking soldiers were being picked out by a few elites and were led to the Corporal.

_Did they do something?_ she wondered, watching them as she too stood in line for the provisions as they were starting to be handed out.

The soldiers were brought one by one directly to the Corporal, who immediately started jabbing and hitting in various places. They dropped down every time, only to get up once more, looking at themselves as if they had just been given something great.

_Wait…_ she immediately looked around. If the Corporal was here, Eren should be too.

Looking around, she immediately spotted Eren, who was standing off to the side, talking to Mike quietly about something.

"Eren…" she started towards him, only to be called out to.

"Hey, here's your share!" She turned to see that the person handing out the food was holding half a loaf of bread and a small cup of water out to her.

Taking it, she thanked him and hurried over to Eren.

~**~~...~~~**

Eren continued talking quietly to Mike as he discussed to him about keeping his Titan-shifting under control when Mikasa came over.

"Eren! How did you get here so fast? You're the center, and so you should've arrived a little earlier before the direct outer left and right groups come!" She was looking at him in surprise.

He smiled, "Hi, Mikasa! Oh, and Heichou made us go faster, I think it was because he needed to…" he waved his hand at Levi, who was still doing his strange jabbing thing with the sleep-looking soldiers, "...needed to do...that." He shrugged.

She looked at him for a few moments, but before she could ask more, Armin came over, "Eren!" he exclaimed, smiling widely.

"Hi, Armin!" He greeted him in return.

Pretty soon, the others had drifted over, Sasha had somehow managed to get two whole loafs of the bread and was munching on both quickly, looking starved.

Christa and Ymir came over, watching Sasha as she ate quickly, Connie had finished his and was quietly talking to Jean, who was looking a rather reluctant in drinking his water. Reiner and Bertholdt greeted Eren, Mikasa, and Armin and chatted with them a little before going off to the side and discussing whatever quietly.

"Everyone here?" They all turned when they heard a voice behind them.

Hanji had come over, Commander Erwin, Corporal Levi, and Mike with her, "Right so, basically, we're now assigning each of you as co-leader of your own group," she turned to look at Eren, "Except for you Eren, Mike and Levi is still the leaders, you just keep your sorry ass safe, ok?" He blushed in embarrassment as everyone else snickered.

"Anyways, since all of you are the most trusted trainees we have, we will trust you to make the right choices. Just say your leader decides to risk the entire group just to take down a Deviant, try to stop him or at least spare the others in your group. We want to prevent as much casualties as possible this time. Is that understood?" She looked at them all, her cheerful attitude gone and replaced by a serious expression.

"Hai!" They all saluted, drawing attention from the other members of the Survey Corps as they surrounded the entire area.

"Are the brats done eating and resting yet?" Levi suddenly asked sharply, looking at the wagons that held provisions. No one was passing out the food, yet there was no crowd, but he could see a few soldiers here and there going back and nipping some extras.

"Oh, I think so…" Christa answered him, looking too.

"Hmph, I'm only waiting for a few more minutes, then I want everyone ready." He looked at Erwin.

The Commander thought on his statement for a moment before sighing, "Alright, then make sure they're all ready."

Then, he turned to Mikasa, Armin, and the others, "Go and start doing your tasks! Spread the message to the members of your group and make sure they'll be ready soon!"

"Hai!" They saluted again.

"Dismissed!" And they immediately scurried off, Mikasa and Armin quickly saying goodbyes to Eren before leaving.

The higher-ups watched in satisfaction at how quickly they all listened to Erwin's orders, their message spread like wild fire. All the soldiers were now quickly stuffing remaining bread in their mouth, gulping down water and tossing the cup into a sack on one of the wagons, saying farewells to friends before running over to wherever they remembered they had left their horses at.

"Hey, Levi," Hanji started.

"No." He immediately answered.

She sighed, "I haven't even talked yet...I wanted to ask: Are you done with 'waking up' the tired soldiers?"

He nodded slightly, "Yeah." Then he walked off towards where he had stationed his horse, Mike following him.

Even to them, Erwin and Hanji still thought that Levi was a strange person.

**...**

A few hours had passed after the break, and they were nearer than ever towards the mountains, their destination.

"How long did the Commander say this Expedition was going to be?" Eren asked to Mike.

He didn't answer for a moment, looking as if he were in deep thought, "I think he said a week or so."

Eren grinned, "Well, _I_ think it's only going to be three or four days!"

"I think the Commander estimated that long because of how we may run into trouble with Titans. Such as now, we no longer have places like the Forest of Tall Trees to shield us during the day for when we rest, so where are we going to settle down now at?" This last part startled Eren.

"Wait, what? The higher-ups don't know where we're going to settle down now?" He didn't mean to, but he said it in a panicked voice.

Mike looked startled, "Hey, hey! Don't get worked up! I'm pretty sure the Commander has something on his mind, he was just still working it out." He looked at Levi for help.

The Corporal was listening in on their conversation, so when Mike looked at him for sudden help, he quickly turned away, "I don't know...he never told me...probably the only other person who knows is that shitty four-eyes." He said it in such a sour tone that Mike and Eren immediately dropped the subject.

Dawn was almost upon them, and neither of the higher-ups in his group knew what was to happen, so Eren couldn't help panicking within.

~**~~...~~**~

"We've been up all night!" Armin turned to see who was complaining.

It was one of the new trainees, and he looked absolutely tired, "We've been up since the moment dusk settled, and now dawn is coming!" He pointed to his listening subordinates at the east. The sky was turning ever so slightly light there.

"My ass hurts because of riding so long, my back hurts from bending down, and I don't think I can feel my legs at all! AND, look!" As they passed by a few Titans, he pointed out how they were starting to move once more.

"We're going to DIIIIIEEEEE!" He suddenly wailed out.

"SHUT UP!" The leader of the group snapped at him, his face red with annoyance and anger.

The trainee immediately shut up, sulking a little. But the damage was done, the rest of the group who were new trainees were slightly panicking now, their eyes wide and darting everywhere.

The more mature soldiers and Elites in the group tried to maintain control, but they too were a bit panicky when the sun truly started shining. Everyone was tired, and a Deviant could just pop in on them suddenly without their knowing and they would be powerless due to lack of energy.

They all looked around them, seeing if scouts would suddenly show up to save them with news.

They did, but they didn't bring the news they wanted.

After half an hour or so had passed, they all suddenly saw a group of riders coming towards them quickly, it was the inner left scout group.

"The Commander has issued an order: Stay active as long as possible until we reach the safe spot." The leader of the scout group announced as they neared.

"What safe spot?" Armin asked, confused.

The leader of the group looked at Armin, puzzled, "Didn't the higher-ups tell you when they issued you as co-leader?"

He shrugged, "I guess he forgot…"

The leader sighed and nodded at the scout leader, "Understood." The scout leader nodded back, he and his group then drew away, moving onto the rear left formations to pass on the message.

As they left, Armin turned to the formation leader and asked him, "What are the safe spots?"

"Well, apparently, we've gathered information from several of the people who lives in the walls when we prepared for this expedition. It turns out, there should be a large quantity of villages scattered around the mountains, not only here but other places as well, so we were lucky and because of that information, it encouraged this expedition to happen." He answered, eyes surveying the landscape ahead of them.

Armin was still confused, "So, how does that help us, sir? Are you saying that we are intended to all rest in the villages? If we do, where are we going to keep the horses? And wagons? Also, won't the Titans immediately find us out?"

He shook his head, "We did, well, the higher-ups did, worried about that problem, but by a stroke of luck, one of the soldiers we have with us had a grandfather that lived in one of those villages, and she had confirmed that her grandfather said all the houses were styled the same, including all with a cellar, a very deep one, and the doorways are inside the house, so that would reduce the chance of Titans getting to us easily as long as we stay quiet."

"Hold on, are you saying we're going to hide out in the cellars?" Armin asked, his eyes wide.

The others who had been listening in started muttering amongst themselves, "What if we all suffocate down there?"

"Or we all get trapped? Like the doors fall in on us?"

"How about we need to use the restroom or get thirsty in the middle of the day?"

The group leader frowned as he heard the complaints, but he ignored them, "Yes, we're going to be in the cellar, and don't worry, we know that Titans don't bother with any other organisms but humans, so we can simply leave them a bit away from us and picket them in a field or something. As for the wagons, there should be a large storage room in each village, according to the information we've gathered, so we can leave them there, but we will have to move fast."

Nodding, Armin said, "Alright, that's all I need to know then, sir. Thank you."

He nodded in return, "And don't worry, after staying in that village, we will reach our destination within a few hours after that. We'll be reaching the village in a few minutes." He then turned to the rest of the group, "Get ready! I know all of you were listening, so you should know what to do!"

"Yes, sir!" They quickly answered, looking guilty.

Armin turned away, wondering how many casualties they were going to go through to reach the village and organize everyone, they didn't even know if Titans were lurking there, ready to ambush them anytime soon.

**...**

"What? Stake out in the cellars?" Eren was shocked as Levi and Mike explained it to him, everyone else in the group already knew about the plan except for him.

"Yes, is there a problem?" Mike raised an eyebrow at him while Levi flashed his eyes menacingly.

He quickly shook his head, "No, sirs…" he answered, keeping his real thoughts to himself. Everything about this seemed to scream trouble to him.

"We'll be nearing there soon, I think that the Commander just reached it by now, probably. And if they did, they'll be taking care of any Titans that are there. Of course we won't be all staying in the same village, we'd overcrowd it, so we're all going to spend the day at separate villages, and at night we'll send out scouts to each other so we can all regroup and be off once more." Mike told him.

"Understood." Eren answered.

"I think this is a shitty idea. It was suggested by that shitty four-eyes after all, so…" Levi trailed off.

Mike and Eren looked at him in surprised at his sudden remark, "What do you mean, Heichou?" Eren asked questioningly.

But he said no more, not bothering to answer Eren.

The two sighed and left the Corporal to his own thoughts. If they were near their destination, they had to be prepared. They already went over the plan: Dismount the horses at a distance where they would have plenty of room and grass to sleep and feed on. Proceed to the village, cautiously. If the Commander is there with the all-safe signal, they would move in, if not, the others would to go and help fight the TItans while the others protected Eren.

Simple as that.

~~~**...~~~**

"Felicia!" one of the soldiers screamed.

"No! Don't!" Mikasa shouted at him, holding him back as they both watched one of their fellow comrades being eaten right before their eyes.

"F-Felicia…" he gasped, his eyes widening with horror as he watched the Titan swallow, the lump in his throat moving down and out of sight.

"Snap out of it! This one is the only one left! If we kill it, we'll be free!" Mikasa let go of him and ran towards the Titan, aiming for its neck as it had its back turned to her, distracted by the other soldiers in her group.

Leaping while using her 3DMG to bring her up to its neck, she lifted the blades in her hands, "Aaaaarrrrrrggghhh!" she yelled, slicing its nape off in one perfect sweep.

It froze, its mouth wide open, a live soldier in its hand ready to be swallowed.

Slowly, it fell forward, barely missing a soldier as it crashed down, shaking the ground, "No time to grieve! Go into the buildings I told you all to go to and stay there! Go!" The group leader shouted, shoving them all quickly.

Immediately they all moved, eyes filled with tears as they left the Titan, as well as their friends that had been swallowed whole and may still be alive inside its stomach.

"Ackerman!" The group leader shouted as he noticed that Mikasa was just standing there in front of the Titan, unmoving.

Without warning, she suddenly sliced across the Titan's stomach, "Ackerman! What are you doing?!" He shouted, eyes widening in disgust and horror as the abdomen flayed open.

"Watch out!" The soldiers that had started away came back, dragging their leader out of the way just as the stomach acid and all its contents spilled out.

Mikasa leapt out of the way and onto a rooftop, watching the scene play out below her.

"Felicia!" The same soldier cried as his friend came rushing out, coughing and spluttering out her own stomach's contents.

Retching, she turned to see her friend run over to her, wrapping his arms around her, "Oh my God, Felicia...I thought you were...I thought…" he didn't finish.

Gasping, she weakly smiled at him, "I...did...too…" she still had trouble breathing.

The Titan was massive-at least ten meters-and had easily swallowed half of their group, but they were lucky, none of them were chewed to bits, and all were alive. Disgustingly drenched in Titan fluid, stinking of the acid, looking like a mess, but they were alive.

"Alright, first, everyone head to the cellars, now! Then you can all celebrate!" The leader ordered.

"Yes, sir!" They all answered in more positive tones and rushed off.

"Hey, Ackerman." Mikasa turned just as she was about to head off as well.

The scout leader looked at her, a strange look on his face, "I beg of you, please do not ever do something as foolish as that again, I thank you for having compassion for fellow comrades, but we can't be doing that all the time, understood?"

She nodded silently and turned away, walking off once more, leaving the leader standing there, sighing.

"One day, people like her is going to get us all killed…" he muttered, shaking his head.

Mikasa heard him but said nothing as she followed her group mates quickly into the buildings.

Inside, the house they were to be in was spacious, looking very comfortable and cozy, the only thing that ruined the entire attire was that everything was covered in thick layers of dust, "Into the cellar!" Mikasa ordered, already locating the entrance which stood in the kitchen off in a corner.

Unlatching the door, she and another guy heaved the doors open, the doors were as big as each of them and very thick, "Ugh!" the girl named Felicia covered her mouth as thick clouds of dust rose as the doors were open.

They all looked down, there were steps that led down into a seemingly endless abyss, "H-How deep does this go?" One of them whispered, clinging to another.

Mikasa wasted no time in handing out torches and lighting them, "Be careful! And follow after me! The group leader will close the door for us, all you need to do is when we reach the bottom, you must stay quiet and not make any noise unless it is absolutely necessary!" And with that, she started down the stairs.

"She's scary…" Felicia whispered to her male friend, who agreed with her before following down the stairs.

As soon as the last of them went down the steps, the group leader-who had quickly followed after Mikasa in fear of being confronted by a Titan by himself-followed them and, with much difficulty, shut the doors, leaving it unbarred from the outside. But they highly doubt that Titans would even bother looking in the cellar, or else why would this have been their choice of a checkpoint?

"Woah!" One of the females in the group whispered as they reached the bottom, Mikasa quickly shushed her.

Turns out that there was a long tunnel at the bottom, not a room, and it seemed to be sloping downward, "Um...how are we going to breathe? Like...we're really deep down and…" Felicia's male friend said, nervous.

The group leader walked past them and stopped next to Mikasa, "Hmm…" he studied the tunnel, lifting his own torch and looking around. Nothing seemed to be a sign of danger or of anything unnatural that shouldn't be down in a dark, menacing tunnel. "Look." Mikasa said, pointing at something in the ceiling, they all looked up.

Here and there were strange holes, looking like as if metal pipes had been shoved through the ceiling and stuck there, "I think that is what carries down oxygen." She said promptly, studying them.

"How is that possible? There's no sunlight coming down from it, indicating it's from the outside!" The same guy protested.

Mikasa put a finger to her lips, shushing him, "Do you hear that?" she whispered. Immediately they all fell silent.

Listening quietly, they heard soft rustling sounds coming from the holes, they were very faint but sounded as if they echoed from another place far off, "Leader, what did the higher-ups tell you about these rooms?" she asked, turning to the group leader.

He looked at her, his face expressionless, but after awhile, he smiled a little, "You really are a clever soldier, aren't you, Ackerman?" She didn't answer but merely waited for his reply.

"This room is actually a series of catacombs connecting one's cellar to another in a single village, and they all wind up and come together in one central room where they can all meet in secret if there was ever an emergency to do so. I heard that in the past, hundreds of years ago, there were wars, battles, etc. among humans, bombing enemy villages and destroying each other. This village apparently existed back then, making it very old, and these tunnels were used by the villagers to hide out when a bombing comes to them...I think they called it a 'bomb shelter' or something." He looked thoughtful as he stared off into space.

"B-Bombing? What do you mean? Like...tossing bombs from far away or what? Because there are no walls here that they can stand atop of and drop the explosives, right? And plus, if that were the case, wouldn't the attackers be rebelled against by the villagers?" Felicia asked, looking confused.

He stayed silent, still staring off to space, "Leader." Mikasa said sharply, bringing him back to reality.

"Hmm? Oh, yes! Um, how did they bomb these villages indeed…" he closed his eyes for a moment, "I don't really believe it...but they said something about metal birds...something called 'planes' and that they can be controlled by humans to be airborne and drop bombs on villages."

They all looked at him, surprised, even Mikasa was affected, "P-Planes? What…?" All of them looked at each with wide eyes, "How is that possible?"

As they all started pressing him with questions, he became quite annoyed and shook them off, "I don't know! That was all the higher-ups discussed with us!" He turned to Mikasa, "Come on, Ackerman! No time to waste!" She took the hint and continued on, there was only one way they can go through the tunnel, which was forward, and forward they went.

**...**

*SLICE* Levi immediately cut off the nape of three Titans in one, smooth stroke of his blade, making the bodies freeze before they slowly crashed down.

"Eren, get back!" Mike shouted, dragging Eren out of the way just in time as one of the Titans fell, its head landing where Eren had been standing only mere moments before.

"Tch, be careful, idiot!" Levi snapped at him as he continued to cut down the Titans that infested the village they were to stay at one by one.

In no time at all, the village was cleared, and everything once more settled back into a calm atmosphere.

Everyone's face had hisses of steam rising from the bits of Titan flesh and blood on them, making some of them laugh at each other-except for Levi, Mike, and Eren of course.

"This is no time to be slacking off!" Levi snapped, making the laughing elites shut up immediately.

"Head to the house we assigned you to, now!" Mike ordered, immediately everyone headed away.

Levi dropped down next to Eren from his landing on the roof, looking bored, "Oi, hurry up!" he said to Eren, wiping off his blades as he too walked after the others.

"Y-Yes!" Eren said, realizing that he had been standing still after Mike had saved him.

Running after the Corporal-who somehow managed to catch up with the group even though he had been walking-he suddenly saw something in the corner of his eyes.

_Huh?_ he thought, turning to see.

Though morning was now in full effect, he still had a hard time seeing since all the buildings' colors seemed to blend in with one another, looking like just one massive building curving around here and there.

Suddenly, there was a crash as a several planks of abandoned wood leaning against a buildings crashed down, drawing everyone's attention. "Hey!" Eren thought he saw someone in dark clothing disappear around the corner from where the wood had crashed down.

He immediately gave chase.

But when he reached the corner and turned around, there was no one in sight, "Check the area." Levi ordered, having followed Eren and too noticing the figure.

"Yes, Sir!" Mike came to stand beside them as the elites saluted Levi and immediately split off, searching everywhere.

"Who could be here, in this abandoned village?" Eren asked, "I'm not sure...but I just wonder...if it's anyone from either our group or another that came to play a prank on us."

Levi huffed, "Tch, why would they do such meaningless things? Unless they want to die at the hands of a Titan because of their stupidity."

Mike shook his head to Eren, "I already made sure everyone in our group was present before I ordered them to head off to the building we planned to stay at. And I'm pretty sure all of our soldiers are not the kind to fool around, especially when it's daytime." Here, the three of them quickly looked around, but there were no approaching Titans.

"Corporal, can I go search too?" Eren asked.

Levi looked at him for a moment before shrugging, "Don't do anything stupid."

Eren nodded and immediately started off in the direction where he was sure he had seen the figure disappear to, and he immediately found a clue. "Hey!" He called out to Levi.

Mike and Levi immediately came over to him, as well as the other elites that had been coming over to the two higher-ups and reporting their finds, "What is it?" Mike asked.

"Look," Eren said, pointing at something on the ground.

Everyone present looked down at where he was pointing: There was a set of human footprints in some kind of foot-wear that were rather small, and they led out of the village.

"This is definitely the person," one of the elites said, "Just look at how spread out each footprint is from the previous one, indicating that these belong to someone who was running."

Mike studied it closely, sniffing the air deeply, "Hmm…the strange thing is...these footprints looks to be the size of someone very small…" Immediately they all turned to Levi.

He looked around as they all stared at him, "Are you all that shallow-minded to think those are mine? I've been present with all of you the entire time, and also," he placed his own foot into one of the prints-his feet was a centimeter larger than it.

"Honestly...I'm surprised none of you are dead yet...or that you are even elites…" he sighed, crossing his arms.

"Let's follow them?" One of the elites suggested.

Immediately Mike rejected the idea, "No, all of us must first go to cellar, immediately, we've spent far too long outside…" he looked briefly at Levi before continuing, "And we're late meeting up with the others, so come on!" He turned away from them and walked back into the village, Levi following him.

They watched silently as their higher-ups walked away from them, "Hey, Jaeger…" Eren turned as someone called out to him.

One of the elites had a questioningly look on his face, "How can you stand the Corporal?"

His question caught him off guard.

"Huh? Oh, uhm...I don't know...I just do as since…" he fell silent, but they understood.

"Hey, it's awesome that you can turn into a Titan, really!" The same guy smiled good-naturedly at him, his buddies nodding.

Eren looked at them sheepishly, "Really?" He rubbed the back of his head.

Before any of them could talk anymore, Mike had called out to them again, "Hurry! I don't want any of you dead before we even reach our destination!"

With that final comment, they all sighed and hurried after their higher-ups.

…

_(A/N: Yeeeep, my eyes are definitely going to burn out soon...buuuut I hope chu enjoy! ^^ If you hasn't already, please do favorite this story, leave a review, and follow both this story and meh! I have a lot more fanfic ideas going on in my head and ready to be transferred into words! ^^_

_**To "The Dragon Slayer" readers:**__** I am continuing it, but I just realized doing two fanfics at the same time was a bad idea...and since this fanfic seemed the more popular one, I'll be concentrating more on this one...I'll update the other story as well, but just not as frequently with this one TT_TT Sorry!**__)_

_~~~This is Tsunami signing off~~~_


	7. Humor Exists Everywhere

_(A/N: This is more of a "just-for-fun" chapter [which is why it's so short]...Yes I'm sorry to disappoint you after your patient waiting...I might upload another chapter later today though...depends on my mood ^^ Au revoir! [Pretty sure I spelled that wrong])_

**...**

"Arlert, hurry up! You're supposed to lead next to me!" The group leader shouted.

Armin looked up in surprise, he was just talking to one of the new recruits in his group about his first expedition: The Female Titan one.

"Y-Yes, sir!" Armin stuttered, running forward.

The group leader looked at him with a rather disapproving look-of all the groups leaders, excluding the higher-ups, he was the strictest.

Armin caught up to him, looking back at the other members from time to time.

Currently, they were walking through a rather long tunnel that apparently ran beneath the village, every building had their own tunnel, which were then connected to each other that led to a single, large chamber.  
But that was not all, apparently these villages were all connected by a single, main tunnel that ran from the central chamber of each village and led up met with each other in the forest that stood between all the villages. Apparently it was usually full of game and hunters from the different villages met with each other to go hunting and bring back successful meat, dividing the share equally amongst themselves.

"Wow, I never knew that there was such a peaceful and friendly community like this…" one of Armin's group members said when the group leader had told them about the tunnels and the village.

"Yeah, it's really a shame that they're all dead though...would be glad to have such people living in the walls, y'know," another one of the group members answered.

The group leader gave him a sharp look, "You idiot, there are people from this village living in the walls today! How else do you think the higher-ups know of this place?! And how we're still alive because of having these villages as a resting point?" He waved his arms around his head exasperatedly.

The soldier who answered looked sheepish, "Riiight…" He rubbed the back of his head, embarrassed.

His subordinates snickered quietly as the group leader turned away, facing front once more, "I swear, at this rate our future generations won't even survive past their early teens!" He sighed, shaking his head.

Armin looked at him, not sure if he was supposed to agree or disagree, but the group leader paid him no heed, so he didn't get involved.

The tunnel that they were in seemed just like a seemingly endless, dark pit...like of a snake's insides, except much more bigger and hollower. The majority of his group seemed to be at ease, completely assured that they were safe-that no Titans would be able to enter such a place.

Pretty soon, everyone got bored, except for Armin and the group leader, everyone else started horsing around, needing something to waste their extra energy on. Armin noticed a vein throbbing in the leader's forehead, making his gulp silently and stutter-order to the rest of the group: "Stop playing! W-We're still not at the resting point, yet! So quit playing a-and get back into formation!" He briefly looked at the group leader again, whose vein seemed to have calmed down.

His fellow comrades looked sheepish and went back into their positions, stopping their horse-play and acting like children, "Are we almost there, yet?" One of them started to sound not only bored, but also tired.

"Did you see how big the village is? And plus, how far do you think the forest goes? It's MASSIVE! And the other villages surrounds it...so I'd estimate that we are...not there yet!" His friend got a slap to the face for his answer.

The group leader turned to face them briefly, walking backwards, "If you'd quit playing around and started acting like real soldiers, we'd be there already!" They started to looked dejected.

Armin quickly intervened, "But, you're all very skillful and obviously because of that you were able to join the Survey Corps, right? So, I'm pretty sure you're all great!" At this, their faces brightened a little, the group leader merely sighed in exasperation.

"Fine, if you really want to get there, then RUN!" And with that, he sprinted ahead with sudden glee, surprising them.

"HAHAHA! I'M DITCHING YOU GUYS!" The group leader shouted as the darkness of the tunnel swallowed him up.

They all stood there frozen in place, surprise and shock keeping them in their positions, slowly they turned to look at each other in bewilderment, "Wh...what…?" One asked the other.

Armin was the first to break out of the trance, "H-Hey, wait! We're supposed to stay together!" And with that, he ran after their leader.

As the darkness swallowed him up, the others in the group started feeling really tiny, one of the females spoke up, "U-Um..he's right! Let's go!" And with that, she pulled her comrades along as they started to sprint after their leaders, shouting protests at their actions.

"Ouch, not so fast! You're bumping into me!"

"Move it, fatty! There's plenty of room in this tunnel, you can move farther aside!"

"Ouch! Stop trying to push us! If you want to be in the front, then just say so!"

"OW! YOU GIANT PUDDING OF A SOLDIER! THAT WAS MY ENTIRE LEFT RIB CAGE! STOP SHOVING!"

And on and on they shouted, the shouts bouncing off the walls of the tunnels and echoing loudly, but it didn't attract any unwanted attention...or so they hoped.

Two figures stood at the entrance of the cellar that led down into the tunnel, staring silently down into the gloom as the loud shouts reached them. Not of the Survey Corps, they dressed differently, but they both wore cloaks to mask themselves that if anyone had come across them, it'd be impossible to tell whether they were males or females. The only difference between the two was that one was tall and the other was short, but that still wasn't enough to determined who they were.

After a while of staring down at the tunnel, the shouts had finally grown too faint for them to hear, which acted like a cue for the two of the mysterious figures to turn their backs on the entrance and leave the building. The dust that had gathered in the building was already kicked up and messed with so much that the two easily left without leaving a single trace that they were ever there.

Just who were they?

**...**

_(A/N: _ I dunno, this turned from silly to dark and mysterious _ Truth be told I don't know who the two are going to be, I just felt like adding them in here *trolololol* XD You can try to hope for another upload later today, but don't get mad if those hopes are crushed and trampled upon...huehuehue)_

_~~~This is Tsunami signing off~~~_


	8. One GIANT of a Surprise

_(A/N: For the first time ever, I have finished my HW at my tutor's house ONE HOUR BEFORE THE DEADLINE! [when I need to go home] *victory dance* So to celebrate, and also because Star Era is being terribly boring to me, as well as Facebook...I'll be making another chapter! *w* My treat to you for my finishing of the Homework XD If this chapter seemed confusing and really...lacking of details and seems that the plot is going too fast, then forgive me because I'm working on a novel [inspired by my random drawings on index cards, A LOT OF SHIT from Tokyo Ghoul, a few supernatural thingys of Kuroshitsuji, epicness from Durarara, gore and violence from Akame Ga Kill, randumness from Natsume Yuunjichou, bad-assery from Battleship [I dunno how XD] and others _ Enjoy~!)_

**...**

Mikasa and her group walked through the tunnels, besides her and the group leader, no one else knew where they were going...but they knew it was somewhere important.

_*GRRR*_ Everyone stopped briefly as they heard the sound.

"What was that?" One asked nervously, looking around as the sound bounced off the walls, echoing around them and giving it a rather creepy tone.

The group leader looked a bit embarrassed, "That was my stomach..." His mumble was soft, but thanks to the tunnel, it echoed around faintly, enough to let everyone here it.

Mikasa looked at him briefly, flashing him a slight glare as everyone else in the group started laughing, "Well, we've been walking a long time, so it's not your fault!" Felicia said quickly to the leader, her guy friend backing her up.

The leader started to sweat a little around his forehead as Mikasa gave him a glare, it was like the look of an angered tiger that looked ready to kill, "N-No, this is not the time to be talking about such! And I'm pretty sure we're almost there..." Saying this, he quickly took out a folded piece of paper from his breast pocket, unfolding it quickly.

Mikasa leaned over to look, realizing that it looked like a map of some short: Long, winding trails that seemed to be the tunnels twisted this way and that, very detailed but also seeming like it was hastily drawn.

"Oh, the higher-ups made copies for each of the group apparently when they planned this Expedition out," the group leader answered, as if reading her mind, "This is the main chamber where we're supposed to meet." He pointed at a certain large chamber that was drawn right in the center of the map, many tunnels connected to it that led from the different villages.

"I see..." She gently took the map from him and studied it closely. Luckily, although the tunnels was dimly lit by the new torch the leader held-they brought several along just in case one after the other ran out, her well-trained eyesight read the map clearly.

She pointed at a certain area of a tunnel that seemed to be connected to several other smaller tunnels that led away to other places, "Here, this is where we are I believe...and I think it'd take us..." She quickly traced her finger across the rest of the tunnel, calculating the time in her head, "If we hurry, then it'll probably be less than thirty minutes or so before we reach the main tunnel under the forest, then we can meet up with the others." With an air of finality, she folded the map and handed it back to the leader, who looked at her, astonished.

"You really are one of the best soldiers, the higher-ups didn't lie..." He smiled a little at Mikasa before turning around to face the rest of the group. Everyone else had been standing there quietly, listening to what they were saying.

He cleared his throat silently, "I'm pretty sure many of you are tired and hungry, but this is just the minor difficulties you must face as part of the Survey Corps! If you all can walk faster, then we'll arrive at the chamber soon enough, understood?" They quickly looked at each other for a moment before nodding.

"Alright, then let's start off with an easy jog, just to get rid of all that extra energy you've all had bottled up." He said this with a knowing tone, making many of them ducking their face sheepishly.

The moment he said this, Mikasa turned and started jogging down the tunnel, the darkness from afar threatening to swallow her from their views, "H-Hey! Wait! Come on!" Felicia tugged on her guy friend's hand and both of the ran after her. The leader dropped his head in defeat, sighing a little before jogging after them, the others quickly following.

Mikasa ignored their shouts of complaints and continued to jog ahead, going faster and faster with each ten paces. Only one person was on her mind that motivated her to want to quickly reach the main chamber as fast as she could, _Eren..._

"Careful, Ackerman! Don't go running down any of the other side tunnels!" The leader's shout came from behind her, warning her just as a giant opening came into view that seemed to lead off to the side from the tunnel they were running in.

She ignored it and kept running, her stamina keeping up with her increasing pace as she continued running. Her red scarf flapped behind her, but it was firmly wounded on her neck that it wouldn't fly off and be gone forever no matter how strong the wind was anywhere.

Faster and faster she ran, yet despite her speed, she could hear the heavy breathing of her group mates keeping in pace behind her, never seeming to grow faint or sound more exhausted. These were good soldiers, and such shouldn't be sacrificed meaninglessly...that was the thought she had when she had been assigned into the group with them.

Smiling slightly, she whispered under her breath, "Don't die..." Unsure even to herself who she was saying that too, they all continued to run towards their destination.

**~~~...~~~**

"Tch, where is that shitty four-eyes and Erwin?" Levi looked around as he, Eren, Mike, and the others arrived at the central main chamber, looking around.

Eren was too busy wheezing with exhaustion, Mike too was looking a little tired. Even though the village they had arrived at was the closest to the main chamber-like half the distance the other tunnels were-they were all still tired.

For it was because they were the ones who were in charge of the wagons, which means all the equipment, weapons, feed and water for the horse, and provisions for the soldier. Somehow, the Survey Corps had gotten a hold of some strange transportation device that seemed to be a smaller wagon-still pretty big though, it could fit two young adults in it comfortably-and there was also a strange vehicle connected to it.

Like, the vehicle that was connected to the front had two handles at the side for the rider to hold onto while there was a rather big wheel connected to the front, pedal-like things connected to the side. The rider had to place both feet on the pedal things and work it as if they were walking or running in a exaggerated circular motion; the wagon connected to the back of it gave them balance, so it was easy to control, but with all the food and water they had to put into it-not to mention that _all_ of them had to ride one filled to the brim with provisions-it was heavy! _How_ did they fit so many of this contraption into a wagon was up to anyone's guess, frankly, Eren was surprised he didn't even notice the wagon that held it. He was pretty sure that each wagon he saw didn't have such things fit into it...

Eren's legs felt like it had turned into liquid as he walked around, a bit wobbly, and studied the chamber: It was like a huge cavern, he gave them that...and it seemed to be shaped like a perfect oval. Even the walls of dirt felt somewhat smooth to his touch as he felt around, same went for the floor-it seemed impossible that there were no clouds of dirt being kicked up as they all walked around. _Many_ of the same strange holes that they had seen in the tunnels were set into the ceiling-like seriously there was _a lot_ of them-and as Eren looked up at it, he could the faintest trace of sunlight.

"Oi, don't get lost!" Eren turned to see Levi walking over to them, carrying two torched in his hand. "Here," he handed one of them to Eren, who clutched it as if his life depended on it.

"See those?" Levi asked, pointing at something on the wall behind Eren. He turned to look at what the Corporal was pointing at.

Set on the wall, there seemed to be some kind of holder-one for torches most likely, "Go find an empty one and set the torch in, then come over to where Mike is and get more torches. We need to light this shit up or else some idiot is going to get hurt." Just as he said this, there was a loud thud and a yelp.

They both turned to see one of the other soldiers in their group sitting on his bottom, rubbing his head while his lit torch rolled dangerously around next to him, luckily no small patches of stray flame. It seemed that somehow, he couldn't see where he was going and ran into the wall in the last moment, "Tch...idiots..." Levi sighed, walking over to the soldier to discipline him.

Eren watched as the two slowly got into an argument-most likely the Corporal would win-before he turned back to place his torch in the holder set into the wall. Turning around, he clearly saw where Mike was at the cavern slowly lit up with the many torches, he was surrounded by many other just-lit torches, ready to be handed out. Just then he realized why there were so many holes, it was for both oxygen and heat to go out and in, seeing how torches were the only source of light in an area like this. He would be greatly impressed if they managed to have electricity down here and set up proper lighting.

He ran back to Mike, realizing as he did that the cavern seemed a lot bigger than the eye could see as he found himself suddenly winded as he neared Mike, "Hah...hah..." he wheezed. He have had enough exercising: First riding that strange vehicle and then running around all over the place and working.

"Don't worry, we're almost done." Mike smiled as he watched Eren catch his breath, handing a torch to him as the younger boy slowly stood up straight to take it.

"Th-Thanks..." His mumble was heard and was given a nod of approval before he turned to leave, running around the entire place to look for another holder.

"Hey! Looks like you got here just fine!" Everyone immediately halted whatever they were doing as they heard the loud shout that echoed around the massive room, causing most-who didn't have a torch in their hands of course-to clap their hands over their ears. Levi was just setting in another torch into the wall when he heard Hanji's shout.

She and Erwin, along with their group, was just walking in from one of the tunnels, her giving a cheerful wave while Erwin walked with a dignified air about him. Before anyone could do anything else, Levi had crossed the chamber all the way to where the newcomers were and slapped Hanji across the face, hard.

"OWW!" She shouted, rubbing her stinging cheek as it turned slight red. Slight glaring, she looked down at Levi, "What's your problem?"

He was practically glowing, "We had to do a lot of shitty ass work, trying our hardest, and what do you do? Be late of all things! You're the first group, so you should've arrived earlier than us or just a little later so you can help out!" Here, Erwin gave a slight cough, drawing both of their attention to him.

"Levi, that's enough. You and your group can rest, we'll do the rest." He placed a hand on Levi's shoulder, giving him a look that said _"Calm down and listen"_.

Everyone held their breath, wondering what Levi would do.

The Corporal looked at the Captain, having a battle between only their eyes, each new glare or stare holding some short of venomous meaning, "Fine." Levi finally sighed, calming down and shrugging off Erwin's hand before walking back to where Mike was, leaning against the wall and turned away from everyone else.

"Oh! You found the carts! Nice! Knew they would come in handy!" Hanji suddenly commented as she caught sight of the strange vehicles that Eren and them had rode over in with the provisions.

Mike nodded, "Though they were a bit dusty, they were in good working order." At this, Eren suddenly remembered.

Just when they had entered the tunnel, climbing down the rather steep steps and gently closing the cellar doors behind them, they had first arrived in a rather spacious room. In the room, there held many things: Old furniture, long decayed food, old boxes that held unknown items, and there were also the strange vehicles. They had seemed rather out of place to be in such a room, especially how they were convenient to be able to hold the provisions perfectly. Eren had been wondering at the time how they were going to bring the food and water to the others when they met up in the central chamber.

How did he forget this was up to anyone's guess.

"Ha! This village was one of the more...advanced, shall we say? According to the people we've talked to that's lived here or knew someone that did, this village was always constantly making up new things to improve their lives in the village, so that they didn't have the need to ask others for constant help." Hanji recited the facts knowingly.

Suddenly, just as she finished, there was a sudden shout from some of the many tunnels that led into the room, causing everyone once more to turn and see who it was. From several of the other tunnels and almost simultaneously, Armin, Mikasa, Connie, Sasha, and everyone else with their groups crowded into the room, causing the entire room to echo loudly as they started running to each other, talking loudly. "Eren!" Eren turned as he heard someone call his name.

Mikasa and Armin came over to him, a relieved look on their face as well as his own, "Wow! This place is amazing!" Armin commented, looking this way and that.

"Eren, are you ok?" Mikasa asked, worried. She immediately noticed how weary he looked.

"I'm fine, Mikasa!" He said, shaking her off just as Christa, Ymir, and the others crowded over.

Christa was complaining about how her legs hurt from walking too much, Ymir sighed and kept telling her to get over it and yet, despite that, she willingly allowed Christa to sit down so she can massage it gently for her, trying to loosen up the muscles. Sasha and Connie were as normal as ever, both smiling widely and asking everyone how they've been-but once she saw the carts of provisions, Sasha was immediately gone in an instant.

"Grr, we'll go after her..." Ymir sighed, getting up while helping Christa up as well before they walked after Sasha, who was slowly sneaking her way towards the food.

Bertholdt and Reiner were talking about something quietly once more, their quiet mutters seeming rushed and had a worried tone to it. Connie was slowly sliding over, trying to listen in on what they were saying-Jean seemed to be trying to stop him-while Eren, Mikasa, and Armin stayed together in their own little trio group, looking around at the other soldiers.

Suddenly, they heard Hanji started to shout something, they all hushed and turned to hear. Hanji was at where the carts were-a discouraged Sasha was sitting off to the side with her arms crossed and looking down, dejected, while Ymir and Christa stood next to her-and so was Erwin, Levi, and Mike. "Alrighty then! I know you've all been walking and just want to rest, soldiers! So we've got the provisions ready! Come over here to get your share of food! The water will be right next to the package carts!" After she said this, Mike immediately spoke up.

"And don't complain! To those who are easily discouraged by bread and dried meat, just remember where you are right now and what choices you have on food!" After that, the higher-ups turned to the carts of food, taking out many packages while a few soldiers started lining up.

"Eren, stay here, I'll get you food." Mikasa's offer was immediately rejected by Eren.

He shook his head, a slight blush of embarrassment on his cheeks as Bertholdt, Reiner, and Connie turned to look at them, "I'm fine, Mikasa! Just let me get my own food!" And with that, he immediately ran towards where the growing line of soldiers for the provisions was at.

Mikasa looked after him, only the slightest look of sadness on her face as she quietly muttered his name before taking Armin by the hand and dragging him after her. Bertholdt, Reiner, and Connie looked at each other, an exasperated look on all three of their faces before they too lined up for the food. Sasha had already been given her's personally by Mike, as well as Ymir and Christa, and they were just sitting off to the side, enjoying the moment of peace.

"Here." Someone said to Eren as he waited in line.

He turned to see Hanji there, holding three packages in her hand, offering on to him, "H-Huh? Don't I have to wait in line like the others?" He quickly looked at the other soldiers, but they merely glanced at him briefly before turning back to their own friends.

Hanji shook the package slightly, making the wrapper crinkle temptingly to his hunger, "Hurry up, I need to go back and help!" Suddenly, a hand came from out from behind Eren and quickly took the package.

He turned as he and Hanji watched Mikasa hand the package to Armin before taking the other two from Hanji, "Thank you," was her only answer before giving one to Eren and dragging him away. Armin followed them, giving a quick bow in apology to his superior before running after the other two.

She watched the three of them go, a slight grin forming on her lips before she turned and walked back to where the others were.

"Hey, did you give them it?" Levi asked as she approached them.

Nodding slightly, a smirk appeared on her face, "So, tell me exactly why you wanted me to personally give them their food, huuuh Levi?" Her annoying question was answered by a harsh punch in the shoulder by Levi. "Ow ow ow!" She complained, rubbing the spot before glaring at him.

"Shut up and mind your own business." He turned away from her, not apologetic in the slightest as he continued to hand more packages over to the still coming soldiers.

She stared at him for a few moment, rubbing her shoulder silently before breaking into a small fit of laughter, drawing much people's attention towards her. "Hahaha! Levi, you really are a shortie-I mean softie!" It was quite obvious that she made that small word accident to get Levi back.

He turned to flash her a death glare, "You shitty four-eyes..." Once more, his hand formed into a fist.

Immediately, Erwin was by his side once more, his hand holding onto Levi's fist, "Calm down." He commanded it firmly, waiting for the two of them to stop.

Hanji opened her eyes briefly and immediately stopped laughing, "Oh, hey! Me and Levi were just having a light, humorous conversation!" She turned to pat Levi on the head as she said it.

He scowled at her, trying to tug his fist free from Erwin's steel grasp, but seeing how this wasn't going to go anywhere, Levi relaxed slightly, "Alright..." He sighed slightly as Erwin finally released his hand.

Meanwhile, everyone had been staring at them the entire time, watching and waiting to see what would happen. "Tch..." Levi muttered, grabbing a random package and shoving it into the hands of a soldier before getting up and leaving the area.

Everyone else glanced at each other quickly with upturned eyebrows before continuing whatever they were doing earlier before all that happened.

**~~~...~~~**

It was two hours later, when everyone had settled down and were drowsily laying against each other, light filtering down from the strange holes in the ceiling had become brighter, indicating it was somewhere in the early afternoon, "You have around eight or more hours to sleep before we head out once more! So lights out!" At this, they started to blow out a few of the torches, leaving only a few so that others can still see where they were going but also it was a dim atmosphere that openly encouraged sleep.

Mikasa was leaning against Eren, shoulder-to-shoulder, starting to doze off quickly, "Sleep...Eren..." she murmured quietly before falling asleep completely. Eren looked at her serene face before turning away, sighing slightly.

"Eren, you need to sleep, you know!" He turned as Armin came over, his eyes looking like those of a tired sheep, "Everyone else is almost asleep, and tomorrow, I think we'll be arriving at our destination! So we have to be ready for whatever is to come!" Saying this, he sat down on Eren's free side before leaning against him as Mikasa had done, almost immediately dozing off.

Eren stared at the both of them, unable to believe that they had been so tired that they almost fell asleep as soon as they had sat down, " 'night, Ymir..." He heard Christa say quietly to Ymir, who answered back in the same soft tone.

Bertholdt and Reiner were-strangely-leaning against each others' backs once more instead of the wall, seeming to be sleeping rather comfortably. Meanwhile, Connie had his head resting on Sasha's lap, who was snoring away soundly, her mouth open with a slight trail of drool at the corner. Jean was next to Connie and Sasha, sitting down with his back against the wall, he had his arms crossed and his head tilted down. The rhythmic rising of his chest and how he didn't seem to be disturbed to be in such an uncomfortable position indicated that he too had fallen asleep.

Seeing that all his subordinates were asleep, Eren slowly closed his eyes, the comfortable weights of both his friends on his shoulders, giving him his own serene world to rest in.

After he too had dozed off, the only people who were still awake was the Four: Erwin, Hanji, Levi, and Mike.

Mike was leaning against the wall, watching the soldiers slumber away peacefully, "What a boring day! We just rode and rode and rode, then walked and walked and walked, then rested and rested and rested..." Hanji sighed in complaint, sliding down against the wall and collapsing in a huddling position.

Levi and Erwin stood next to the other two, both silent and on watch. Although they seemed tough, sleep was a natural thing, and pretty soon, Mike and Hanji had fallen into its hands. Mike had his head tilted down slightly, arms crossed, and dozing while standing up, his back resting against the wall and supporting him; Hanji had once more curled up into a cat-like position, using one of her arms as a pillow as she slept on, completely oblivious to the world.

Erwin looked at Levi slightly, giving him a look, "It's time for you to sleep as well, I'll take first watch." However, Levi rejected this.

"Don't be stupid! We're all the way down here, who else can enter this place? Definitely not Titans, and if there were other people here..." He sighed slightly, "I high doubt that...but besides that, stop acting like your some parent or shit!" Erwin listened patiently to Levi's small rant.

"So, what was the point of this, then?" He asked this the moment Levi stopped.

The shorter male glared at the taller one, "I'm saying that, as since you're our Captain, you should rest too. We don't need a fatigued leader on our hands, do we?" He said this pointedly before turning away from his, leaning one shoulder against the wall while facing the other way.

He looked at Levi in slight surprise for a moment, then he relaxed and laughed a little, "Alright, I get what you're trying to do..." Saying this, he slowly bent down before sitting on the floor.

There was a few moments of silence while the two of them stayed like that, then-"Hey!" Levi said in surprise as Erwin suddenly grabbed one of his arms and pulled him down.

"You said to go to sleep, so you should follow that order yourself, right?" Erwin smiled slightly as Levi sat down next to him, a slight pissed off look on his face.

They both sighed at the same time, pausing and looking at each other before turning to look the other way, neither willing to look at the other.

Hanji was still curled up like a cat, but a mumble came to her lips as she dreamt of something, "Erwin...Levi...you need to sleep..." Her mumble was audibly heard by the two males. Turning to look at her, they stared at her for a while before she turned away from them, facing the other side.

Erwin was the first to break the silence by saying, "Well, I guess lights out for the both of us then." And with that, he closed his eyes and fell into a sleep immediately.

Levi stared at him unbelieving, "You old git, I told you we didn't need a fatigued leader on our hands..." His words trailed off into the silent gloom as he watched his captain carefully, making sure that he was definitely asleep before turning away and closing his eyes on his own.

Soon after that, the entire Survey Corps was asleep, off wandering in their own dreams lands.

_Step. Step. Step._

As soon as Levi was in deep sleep, the sounds of two sets of footsteps was heard ever so faintly, the people that they belonged to appearing in one of the far off tunnels from where Armin and his group had come from.

They wore cloaks that masked their identity, their shadows flickering slightly off the wall from the flames of the torches, "Hmm...so this is what we're up against?" The shorter one of the two muttered ever so silently.

"Aye, it seems..." The taller one spoke with a slight accent.

They quietly wandered over to where the carts were, "They've got weapons," the taller one reported.

"Hunting ones, it seems," the shorter one said as they too came over to inspect.

"Not for attacking?"

"Nein, so that means they aren't after us..."

"Well, shall we let them into our territory?"

"Sure, let's see just who these people are."

After that, the two mysterious people had crossed the room once more, returning to the tunnel that they had come out from. Earlier, Erwin and the others had made sure to mark which tunnels were the ones they were to come from so they can return easily, however, the two people seemed to automatically know which tunnel was which.

"Let's be on our way." The shorter one immediately started down the tunnel.

"Right." The taller one quickly followed until they were both gone from the chamber.

**...**

_Next morning...  
_

Everyone slowly came to reality, waking from whatever bad ass dreams they had that made them grumble as they got up, or from terrifying nightmares that some woke up from feeling relieved. Mikasa was already up and waiting for Eren and Armin as they both came to, rubbing sleep from their eyes.

"Nngh..." Eren muttered, yawning slightly as he continued rubbing his eyes. Armin merely fell right back down, once more about to succumb to the arms of sleep.

"Oiii, Armiiin!" Before Armin could fall asleep again, Eren started to shake him like a madman. It woke him right up.

His short, blonde hair waved everywhere crazily as Eren shook him with surprising strength, "I-I-I ge-e-et i-i-it E-Ere-e-e-en!" The shaking immediately stopped.

Armin sat there for a moment, looking dazed as his mind tried to get into working order again, meanwhile, the others had come over, "Wow, what happened to you, Armin?" Connie asked, noticing Armin's disheveled hair. Apparently, none of them had noticed Eren shaking the life out of Armin.

"Are you ok, Armin?" Christa asked, worried to see Armin looking a bit sickly pale. Ymir studied Armin as well, but otherwise she said nothing else.

Sasha, Bertholdt, Reiner, and Jean merely stood there, looking around for something to do as they waited for their fellow subordinates to wake up, and of course, the higher-ups were already wide-awake, seeming to be already planning something with the other group leaders. Suddenly, as if she felt them awake, Hanji turned to look at them, "Hey! You're up! C'mere! There's something you need to see!" She waved invitingly at them, which they meekly accepted, carefully walking over and making sure not to trample anyone underfoot.

The moment they came over, Hanji urged them to come closer, the other seemed to be studying a rather large map that Erwin held in his hands. Occasionally they made a comment, pointing somewhere and such before Erwin made another comment, which resulted in more discussing. Eren quickly looked around for the nearest hole in the ceiling, when he did, he noticed that it seemed to have the bowels of a gigantic serpent-for now light shined down from it, indicating it was night.

"Right, so this is where we're headed," Hanji briskly said to them, pointing at something on the map. Everyone crowded in to look.

The map was of the current area they were in, seemingly hastily sketched out, but it was also very detailed like the map for the tunnels from yesterday, Mikasa realized.

Hanji was pointing at the mountain areas, a big red **X** in a single area that was right in the center of the border where grassland turned into the mountainous area, "This is our closest idea of where we might be headed..." She commented this in a low voice, "Our _closest_ idea...not our 'for certain' idea..." They all quickly looked behind them, making sure no other soldiers besides the group leaders and the others heard it.

"Don't tell anyone, got it?" Levi suddenly spoke us from his place. He had been leaning against a wall the entire time, seeming to give no shits about what they were discussing about-possibly Erwin or someone else had already discussed it with him earlier.

He glared at all of them-a rather terrifying look-and they all quickly promised they wouldn't tell anyone.

"Well, that's basically all I guess!" Hanji stretched a little as she finished talking. Here, Erwin quickly folded up the map into a suitable size, handing it to Mike who then walked away with it, off to set it somewhere.

Suddenly, as if remembering something, Hanji gave a small shout, everyone turned to look at her in surprise. "What are we doing here?! It's night already, and it's time to head out!" She quickly ran over to the provisions carts, gathering up many packages in her arms and running around, tossing it at surprised soldiers.

Everyone stared at her in disbelief, "Is she...?" Armin started.

"Always been retarded like that? Yes, she has." Levi answered, coming over to join them in watching Hanji.

After a while of watching her scrambling around, Levi sighed and went over to the provisions carts, lazily helping Hanji out, "Ehh, we should help, I guess..." Eren said, walking towards the carts. After he went, Mikasa immediately followed after him, forever loyal.

Seeing his two friends go, Armin quickly followed them, Sasha naturally of course also went, her mouth watering as she imagined how the dry meat would taste like-hey, as long as it was meat, it was good with her-while Christa and Ymir quickly followed after to keep an eye on her once more. Jean quickly followed after as well, determined to be better than Eren and catch Mikasa's heart, Connie walked after him, his hunger gnawing in his stomach was what motivated him to help. Bertholdt and Reiner looked at each other briefly as they watched their friends walk off to help, then they too joined in the help.

It was a rather amusing evening.

**~~~...~~~**

"I-It's c-cold..." Eren complained, strong gusts of wind blowing from all around him as his horse ran alongside with the others in his teams.

It had been an hour or so later after everyone had woken up, eaten, gotten ready, and split up once more to get back to where their horses and-in Eren's case-where the wagons were. Everything seemed to be have been left untouched, and the horses seemed rather fine, frisking around everywhere with energy and not bothered in the least by the cold. Apparently, the grass had been wet, which the horses devoured, gaining food and water to stay well.

"We'll be there soon, so just hold out." Mike came riding next to him briefly, his face relaxed while his nose worked away. The others in the group were chatting with each other leisurely, not seeming to be disturbed by the cold in the slightest.

Everyone was at peace, and it was quite enjoyable, seeing how after being cramped up in that chamber, they felt so free now, like they could do anything.

_Meanwhile..._

Armin and his group too were at the same peaceful stage, everyone relaxed and having an occasional joke shared around, resulting in chortles all around.

Right now, Armin felt like he wanted to visit a place somewhere else than the mountains...somewhere that seemed to have a huge area that stretched on forever and ever...a relaxing breeze blowing by while Eren and Mikasa stood by his side..._the ocean..._Armin thought to himself.

The only other thing that kept everyone in high spirits was that the view of the mountains seemed to be drawing closer and closer, signaling that their long journey was almost finally over. Of course there was the matter that they'd have to ride all the way back to the Walls after this...and that would obviously result in at least a few of not many casualties.

_**...**_

Two more hours later or so, they finally saw the border line where the grassland came to meet with the mountains, at this everyone gave a small cheer, even though it looked like it would be another hour or so of riding before they were even near it. And how did they see it in the dark was a mystery.  
There was no sign of any scouting teams around them, nor was Eren or Erwin's group visible, but that didn't bother Armin, he was pretty sure that they'd all meet up again.

Armin and his team rode towards the mountains, their destination finally upon them. After a while of casual chatting that brimmed with excitement, they suddenly came upon something that stopped their blood cold.

_Titan footprints._

What really scared them was that, it was night, yet the tracks looked fresh, as if the Titan had been here mere moments ago...yet, as they looked around, no large figure or something of a Titan was around in their lines of sight. Everyone as silent as they rode past the tracks, which seemed to go straight towards where they were heading to, but then as they followed it, it suddenly veered off to the side as if the Titan had changed its mind, and it sharply cut to the right and headed that way instead.

"Well...as long as we don't meet it...we should be fine..." The group leader tried to calm everyone's nerves down.

"B-B-But...what kind of Titan is it? It can't be a normal one, right? Because, these tracks looks fresh...and it's night..." One of the members commented this, causing small panic attacks to the new girl trainees.

Armin shook his head, "Even if it is an abnormal, it should still be drained because of the lack of sunlight...and we all know that all Titans draw energies from the Sun..." This caused more small panic attacks.

The group leader quickly told them to quiet, "Just keep riding towards the mountains, there we'll meet up with everyone!" But even as he said this, Armin noticed his hand reaching over to the pouch that hung at his horse's right flank, the bag that carried the smoke signals.

Suddenly, there was a faint thudding sound from behind them, as if something _really_ heavy was running towards their way...and at an incredibly fast pace.

"W-What's t-that?!" One of the females in the group stuttered, pointing at something behind them.

Everyone simultaneously turned to look behind them, and what they saw made everyone freeze in place, their eyes wide with horror.

A rather tall Titan was headed their way, but at the distance it was away from them, it was hard to see exact physical features from it, "Shit!" The leader immediately lifted the gun from the smoke signals bag, letting off a bright, black flare.

Before they can do anything else, they felt heavier thudding and turned to watch in horror as the Titan came closer to them, faster and faster. Armin's eyes started to finally adjust, allowing him to see the Titan clearly.

It was at least seventeen meters tall, no doubt about that and it seemed to have a well-built body, indicating that this would be a formidable foe to take down...but there was something strange-looking about it. Armin strained his eyes to look harder.

The Titan seemed...to have an enlarged chest...and visibly long, black hair trailed from behind it, "A female Titan?!" Armin gasped, his eyes widening as he stared at its approach.

"Watch out!" The leader shouted, Armin snapped out of his daze just in time to veer to the side as the Titan ran by, running all the way to the front of the group, stopping the soldiers at the front.

"Hold your horses! Wait for my orders!" Everyone heard the leader's command and gave a gulp, stopping their horses quickly and stared at the Titan.

It had come to a stop, staring at them with an unnerving look, its hair now hanging in messy strands as it watched them, high temperature body steam bursting out from between its teeth. It was now that, as they were given the chance to study the Titan, he realized it was like no other Titan he had ever seen.

Unlike Annie's Female Titan form, this Titan seemed **_(A/N: Hey, I'm not saying it's a Titan-shifter =_= Just comparing it with Annie right now_ ;D)** to have skin over its entire body, giving it a less gruesome look, yet it had no lips or skin on its jaws, gums and muscles showed from where its lips should be all the way to its ears. A single strip of skin was stretched over the center on the sides of the horror-like grin that the female Titan wore, another one covered where the grin ended at, near its ears. Besides that, its eyes had a terrifying look: The whites of the eyes were entirely black, its irises a bright crimson, giving it a rather demonic look. Besides that, its eyelids had no skin over it, meaning it looked like skins of muscles covering over its eyes, seriously giving it a creepy look that sent chills down everyone's back.

It watched them silently as they stared at it right back, each seeming to have some sort of staring contest with it.

Suddenly, the leader let off another smoke signal, this time a bright red one, possibly there were no answering smoke signals was because the black one was too dark to see, "No!" Armin gasped, but it was too late.

Answering red flares from far off were suddenly in the sky, and at the last moment...a green flare by Erwin. This was what the Titan seemed to have been waiting for.

It turned to look at the single bright green flare before other answering ones appeared in the sky, then it quickly ran in the direction where Erwin's green flare had come from, "No! Stop!" Armin shouted at some stray riders that had started to ride ahead of the Titan, intent on stopping it.

Just then, one rider misjudged and came directly into the path of where the Titan's footsteps would be at, meaning that he was going to be crushed in an instant, "Watch out!" The leader shouted.

Then, what the Titan did next shocked them all into silence: It stopped shortly, right before it crushed the rider, before stepping over him and continued to run to where Erwin's green flare had come from.

The Titan had just spared a human's life.

**...**

_(A/N: *whines* I wanted to make this longer but..._ It must ends as le cliffhanger :3 I'm just like that...DEAL WITH IT! Sooo, this was a really, really, really long treat XD [I usually post only like two thousand words chapters, this is over five thousand e.o] Sooooo, WHO'S READY FOR THE NEW OVA?! [Coming soon in December {*trolololo* XD}] I can't wait to watch Levi's back story animated! ^^ Wow, I got super creative and typed **SO FAST**! Like, I **still have fifteen minutes left** to check for extra things to add in and post this .0. I am apparently a Kamisama when it comes to have a free hour to write stories _ XD  
_

_If you haven't already, please do give this story a favorite and a review, as well as follow both this story and me! Many more fanfics coming your way! ^^ *tosses triple rainbows at you*)_

_~~~This is Tsunami signing off~~~_


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